


Shipwrecked

by LazyDaizy



Series: Shipwrecked [1]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, Betty bails him out, Buried Feelings, Ex's to Lovers, F/M, Fighting, Jughead in Jail, Smut, Unresolved Issues, bringing Jughead home, ex's, relationship rebuilding, shipwrecked on an island, the past haunts them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-27
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-01-04 07:07:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 49,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21193610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LazyDaizy/pseuds/LazyDaizy
Summary: When FP Jones asks Betty to travel to Costa Rica to bail Jughead out of jail and bring him home, she accepts his offer even though they hadn't been together nor seen each other in almost a decade.In a bizzare turn of events, they end up shipwrecked on an island and with nothing else to do but survive and spend time together, old feelings and fights come to life and they face off, continuing with the drama that had ended their relationship years before.Will they be able to put it all aside and start over and do they want to?  Or will this break them for good?





	1. Freedom Isn't Free

**Author's Note:**

> Hey my darlings!
> 
> Well, it's here and i'm so sorry it took so long. Apparently taking a break from writing can actually kind of just block it all and it took so long to try and get back in the groove. This of course being the first chapter, has me as always, nervous and anxious because building the start is always the hardest. It's not overly long but it's a start and it feels a little sloppy and rusty but I hope you enjoy it and I hope you come back for more :) 
> 
> Love you guys!!

Betty stood outside the office of FP Jones and tried to compose herself. He had asked for a meeting with her and she couldn’t, for the life of her, figure out what he could possibly want. She hadn’t seen him in probably seven years, not since he’d come into a long lost family fortune enabling him to start a Whyte Wyrm franchise that had taken off and he’d moved to New York City. He had 12 of them scattered around the country, an easy feat to accomplish with a sudden vast bank account. 

He’d literally become the King of Riverdale before moving; quite a step up from King of the Serpents. Although he’d given that title to her ex when they were mere teens and last she heard, Jughead had left town and only dropped in once in a while to say hello and dip into his trust fund before disappearing again. She had no idea why he up and ran, but he had always dreamed of traveling and having the sudden means to do that was most likely too good to pass up. Still, he hadn’t been rooted in the town or New York in at least five years and she wondered why he didn’t settle, as he moved from place to place and never stayed anywhere long.

In any case, it didn’t matter. The Jones men were part of her past and she never really let her mind go to those times because even now, years later, it hurt to think about Jughead and now his father had asked her for a meeting and she had wanted to refuse, but deep inside, she knew, if either of them ever needed her, she would show up. It was just who she was. Not thinking about them when she was living her life was one thing, not being there when they needed her was quite another.

She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders and knocked on the door. The _Come in!_ was called out immediately and she opened the door and walked in. FP Jones certainly knew how to do things in style. His high rise office had a tremendous view of the city and it was lush and beautifully furnished. 

“Betty Cooper,” FP said with a smile as he looked up from the papers he was looking through. He leaned back in his chair and motioned for her to take a seat. 

Betty walked over to the chair on her side of the desk and sat down, folding her hands in her lap and waiting for him to speak.

“How are you?” he asked as he studied her. “You look great, haven’t changed a bit.”

“Well, you certainly have,” she offered with a small laugh. “Sitting a little higher than the last time I saw you.”

“Well, you know,” he shrugged with a grin. “A few dollars gave me a nice boost. But really, how are you?”

“I’m fine, Mr. Jones. Doing really good but rather curious as to why you asked to see me after all these years,” she said slowly. 

“Well, first,” he began. “Let me start by saying ‘thank you’ for coming. I thought it might be a long shot since it’s been so many years but I’m glad you at least came to hear me out.”

She waited as he mulled over what it was he wanted to say to her. Her eyes moved to the photos on his desk and paused on a picture of Jughead, grinning from some unknown location that appeared to be tropical. He had his arms spread wide, a stunning landscape spread out behind him, the wind blowing his hair around his face. He looked like he belonged there. Wild, full of life, a part of nature. 

Beautiful, like he always was.

“I need you to go to Costa Rica and bring Jughead home,” FP suddenly blurted out and she turned to look at him in surprise.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“He’s in trouble…..no, let me re-phrase,” he said with a shake of his head. “He’s in jail and I need you to go and bring his ass home.” 

She raised her brows in surprise. “Why on earth would you think I’d go and bring him home?” Betty asked with a shake of her head. “I haven’t seen Jug in almost 9 years. We didn’t exactly part of good terms,” she reminded the older Jones man.

“Water under the bridge,” he said with a wave of his hand as if he could just dismiss the fact that Betty and Jughead had ended their relationship locked in an angry battle about their future. To make matters worse, the future Jughead had been fighting for, he’d abandoned not even a year later and had skipped town. Betty had been furious and hurt and now, almost a decade later, she was still feeling the sting of the entire mess.

“Mr. Jones, I’m sorry but I can’t help you,” she said quietly, shifting to stand.

“Betty, please,” FP said softly, his composure slipping and a weary vulnerability crossing his face. He looked almost defeated and she paused.

She realized that he would never have asked for her help if he wasn’t desperate and there was enough history that she knew she couldn’t just walk away. Sure, things hadn’t exactly ended up _happily ever after_, but at one time, the Jones men had been her family.

“What’s Jughead doing in Costa Rica?” she asked softly, settling back again.

“What does Jughead do anywhere he goes?” FP asked with a tired sigh. “The boy’s been around the world ten times already and he still isn’t content. He’s still running and trying to find only God knows what.”

“How did he end up in jail?” Betty asked.

“Got into some fight in a bar defending a women.”

“Well, isn’t he noble,” Betty said grudgingly. FP smirked at her and she rolled her eyes. “So if it was just a bar fight, shouldn’t he be getting out after he sobers up or something.”

“Well, according to the call I got,” the older Jones man said wearily. “This is his third offence and they are deporting him. If he can’t play nice, he can’t visit any longer. His lawyer called me after Jughead demanded he get him out of there and make it all go away. It isn’t going away and I know if I go get him I’m going to have a fight on my hands.”

“And what makes you think he’ll come with me?”

“He will,” FP assured her firmly.

Betty folded her arms across her chest and gave him her best _I’m not buying it_ glare and he sighed.

“You’re his weakness; his kryptonite if you will,” he explained. “I’m pretty sure he’d do anything for you if you asked him to.”

“FP, it’s been years since we’ve seen each other. That may have been true once upon a time but not anymore.”

“Trust me,” FP said firmly.

“Give me a reason,” she countered. FP studied her for a while before running a hand down his face and letting out frustrated sigh.

“Jughead is running from ghosts that haunt him, Betty. If one of them is standing right in front of him, he might actually stand still for a minute.”

Betty felt her heart twist. She didn’t bother telling the older man that she had no interest in facing her own ghost because she knew he could see it in her face.

“I know seeing him is probably the last thing you want, Betty, but all I’m asking is that you bring him home and then you never have to see him again if you don’t want to. I’ll make it worth your while.”

“What, like you’ll pay me?”

“Name your price.”

Betty sighed and stood, brushing her hands to smooth her clothes and smiled at him. “I don’t want your money, Mr. Jones. Send me all the details on Jughead and what he’s been up to over the last 9 years and I’ll think about it. You’ll have my answer tomorrow morning.” She didn’t give him a chance to respond as she turned quickly and headed out of the office. 

Back in her apartment she paced back and forth, trying to come up with reasons to refuse FP’s request but they all fell flat. The only reason she had for not wanting to do it was because she didn’t think she was ready to see him or face him. She had all kinds of time these days since she’d decided to take a break from work, but there was so much unresolved issues between her and Jug and it had been years since they’d seen each other. Betty just didn’t know how this was going to pan out.

Betty spent the night going back and forth but inevitability, she made the decision she knew she’d make all along. When it came to Jughead Jones, Betty knew she would always do anything to help him, no matter what. 

FP was going over some papers when the email came through and he opened it, a smile spreading across his face. Betty accepted his offer.

“Good girl,” he said with a smirk. “Help that boy get his head out of his ass and work this shit out once and for all.”

He leaned back and turned his chair, looking out over the city. It had never sat well with him, the way things had ended between and his son and Betty. They had always seemed solid. The real deal. Unfortunately, life threw a curve ball and they suddenly found themselves on opposite sides of a decision and it had broken their relationship. But FP knew his son, he knew the love he still carried around for the beautiful blonde and all these years he’d been waiting for an opportunity to throw them together again and this – this was perfect.

FP picked up his phone and made a call. He figured Betty and Jughead could use a little help in figuring things out.

It was hot.

That was all Betty could think about as she settled into her hotel in the small little beach town in Costa Rica. It was an out of the way hidden jewel; that according to the locals, drew in those seeking adventure and good surfing. The scenery was breath taking and she could see why Jughead had settled there. She did wonder though if it was the scenery or something else that drew him to this place. She couldn’t see him having started to surf but she guessed anything was possible.

She dropped her bag on the bed and looked around the small room and sighed. There wasn’t much luxury to be found in the town and this was the best she could do. She was a little irritated that she couldn’t get a room with two beds as she was ordered to keep Jughead in her sight at all times. Well, he could just sleep on the floor.

Betty assumed he had a place to stay here but she’d only let him gather his things, if he had anything to gather and then they were heading home. She lay down on the bed and checked the time. A couple hours of sleep and she would head to the jail and get his ass out.

Jughead lay his head back on the stone bench and stared at the ceiling as he took a long drag of his cigarette. For a shit hole of a jail, at least they let him have a smoke. He sighed at the grating screech of the cell door as it suddenly swung open and interrupted the silence. 

“You’ve been sprung, Jones. You’re going home.”

“Home?” he laughed, blowing smoke into rings and watching as they floated up before fading away. “Home is Riverdale, USA and I have no intention of going there.”

“Well, that’s too bad,” the guard laughed. “Because that’s exactly where you’re going.” 

Jughead turned his head and his brow furrowed as his eyes focused on a pair of long legs. He let his gaze move up to the short shorts that were appropriate for the stifling heat in this god forsaken place, to the white tank top and a beautiful face that housed the green eyes that haunted his dreams every night. There it was; the ever present ponytail. Jughead sat up in surprise.

Betty Cooper.

Fuck.

“You look like shit, Jug,” she smirked, leaning against the bars, folding her arms over her chest. 

“My dad did this, didn’t he?”

Betty shrugged.

“He doesn’t play fair,” Jughead growled, snuffing out his cigarette on the stone.

“I don’t care about any games you two are playing, i’m just here to bring you home,” she said firmly. 

Jughead smirked and lay back down on the bench, tucking his hand behind his head. “No thanks,” he said nonchalantly. “I’m good.” Some clean clothes suddenly landed on his face and the guard rapped on the bars, making him grit his teeth at the sound.

“Get your ass up, Jones,” he barked. “You have no choice in the matter.”

“My lawyer’s working on it,” Jughead replied. “He’s coming up with a plan.”

“I’m the plan, Jug,” Betty said firmly, pulling away from the bars. “Now, move.” 

"Funny, this doesn't seem like freedom...."

"Freedom isn't free, Jug," Betty said with a shrug. 

Jughead sighed and slowly sat back up, leaning against the wall and staring at her with a tilt of his head. She met his gaze with an unwavering and firm one of her own and he realized she wasn’t going anywhere unless he was coming with. If there was one thing he knew about Betty Cooper, it was that when she was determined, nothing could stand in her way.

“Up and shower,” the guard spoke again, pointing to the open shower in the cell. Jughead looked at Betty and she simply smiled and settling back against the door frame and waited.

“You going to watch?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

“You’re not leaving my sight until we’re home,” she shrugged. “Besides, I’ve seen it before.”

Jughead let out a laugh and stood up, pulling off his shirt as he did. The guard stepped back but Betty remained where she was, holding his gaze. He kicked off the slippers they had given him when he got locked up and undid his pants and let them drop to the ground, followed by his boxers. When her eyes slowly trailed down his body, it took every ounce of self-discipline he had not to react, especially when she paused below his belly button. Her eyes slowly came back up and damn if she didn’t have an amused smirk on her face.

“You haven’t changed a bit.”

Jughead glared and she let out a laugh. Saying he hadn’t changed was an insult. The last time she’d seen him naked, he’d been a scrawny 18 year old teenager. He had quite obviously grown into a man, filled out and fit. She motioned with her head toward the shower and he walked over and turned on the water and when it was as warm as it was going to get, which was more on the cool side, he stepped into the spray and grabbed the old soap that sat in the dish on the shelf. 

Betty kept her gaze on his and had never worked so hard in her entire life to keep a straight face and to not let her eyes wander all over him again. She had obviously lied to him because he most certainly had changed. Gone was the gangly teenager and in his place an incredibly fit and sexy man. She immediately hated every single female he may have touched since they broke up. 

Jughead Jones was more beautiful than any man had a right to be.

He finished his shower quickly and she guessed it was because the water wasn’t even close to being warm and soon dried off and pulled on the clothes provided. 

“Where are the clothes he was brought here with?” she asked the guard as she looked over the ill-fitting clothing. 

Jughead laughed as he slipped into his footwear. “Pretty sure someone took them home the first night I got here.”

“What?” she questioned in confusion.

“It doesn’t matter,” he shrugged. “So, what now?” He stood looking at her expectantly and she straightened and motioned to the door.

“Let’s get you out of here.”

“You really think you can get me on a plane and home once we leave this jail?” Jughead asked with a laugh.

“Oh, don’t worry about that, Jug,” Betty said with a smirk as she stepped out of the cell. “We’re covered.” She walked down the hall toward the front of the jail and didn’t bother to see if he was following her, she knew the guard would make sure he cooperated. At the front, she waited patiently while Jughead signed all the necessary papers and once he was officially released and they were outside the jail building, he finally noticed an armed guard shadowing them.

“What’s this?” he motioned to the man.

“Well,” Betty said with a smile. “He’ll make sure you stay with me until we leave the country.”

“Seriously?” 

“Nobody’s putting up with you shit anymore, Jug. You’re going home and there is no getting out of it.”

“And then what?” he asked as she started down the street.

“I really don’t care,” she shrugged. “Once I deliver you to your father, my job is done.”

“What’s he paying you?” Jughead asked as he fell in step beside her. His arm brushed against hers and Betty would be lying if she said it didn’t cause a shiver to go up her spine. She hated that he still had even the slightest effect on her.

“Enough,” she said with a shrug.

He laughed and rolled his eyes. “Oh yes, FP’s money can get pretty much anything done, even send an ex running to Costa Rica to bring home a wayward son.”

Betty let out an unladylike snort. “Well, Jones, it had to be a good amount to convince me to come after you because I certainly didn’t want to see your idiotic ass,” she huffed as she headed across the street to the hotel she was booked into. 

Jughead paused in surprise and he had to admit, her callous attitude stung a little. The armed guard gave him a shove from behind and he glared at the man before following Betty into the hotel. “I have a place of my own,” he informed her. She turned and let out a sigh.

“We’ll go there in the morning and you can collect whatever you can carry in a bag and then we’re leaving.”

“In a bag? I’ve lived here for over a year.”

“And what exactly did you collect here in a year that you so desperately need to take with you?” Betty asked with a raised eyebrow. “Anything that doesn’t fit in the bag will be shipped.” She resumed her walk to her room and Jughead followed after another nudge from the guard. Once inside, he looked around and immediately noticed there was only one bed.

“So where am I sleeping?” he asked with a grin.

“The floor,” she retorted, kicking her shoes off and loosening her ponytail to shake out her hair.

Damn, she was still so beautiful. Even more so than she had been a decade ago. Her hair hung to the middle of her back and he itched to run his fingers through it. 

“I’m going to go for a shower,” Betty announced, interrupting his thoughts. He gave himself a mental shake and plastered a smirk on his face.

“Well, that should be fun,” he noted. “I recall you saying something about me never leaving your sight.” Betty rolled her eyes and to his surprise, pulled a pair of cuffs from her back pocket and before he could even think to protest she had one of his wrists locked in and she motioned toward the bed with her head. “You’re kidding, right?” he laughed. Her glare suggested she wasn’t.

“Now, Jug, or I’ll call the guard in,” she threatened. “He will be stationed by the door until he’s relieved with a different one so there is no point in trying to get away.”

“I’m not going to try and get away,” Jughead sighed. “I don’t need to be cuffed for shit’s sake.” 

“Well, I’m not about to take that chance. You got yourself in enough trouble down here and now they want you out of the country, so that’s what’s going to happen and I’m taking no chances that I’m going to have to chase you down somewhere.” She tugged him closer to the bed and he went willingly and laughed when she fastened the cuff to the head board.

“Kinky,” he said with a grin and she rolled her eyes. Jughead settled on the bed, leaning back against the pillows, his free hand tucked behind his head. “This reminds me, I have a couple lady friends I’d like to say goodbye to in the morning before we leave.” 

Betty looked down at him and saw the smirk on his face and bristled a little on the inside. Of course he had women to say goodbye to. The man was gorgeous and obviously he hadn’t been celibate since they broke up. She hadn’t been either but she was choosing not to throw it in his face. She gave a sharp tug on the cuff to make sure it was tight and smiled in satisfaction at his pained wince.

“What’s the matter, Cooper,” he asked curiously, watching her face.

“Nothing,” she snapped. “Where exactly are these women? Surely not the same one who you went to jail for.”

“Why yes, the very same,” Jughead said, once again grinning. “We can stop by the bar on the way out of town,” he suggested. 

Betty said nothing and left him on the bed and headed into the bathroom. She closed the door and locked it, leaning against it and letting out a shaky breath. She was starting to regret her decision. She had thought it wouldn’t be a problem seeing Jughead but the moment she had laid eyes on him, her entire body reacted with so many emotions, she wanted to throw up. Anger, sadness, guilt, and other things that she refused to give name to. Why couldn’t it just go away? It had been years. Why did she still feel it after all this time?

“Dammit,” she whispered, holding out her hands and looking down at them. She saw them trembling and hoped that she had seemed to have it all together in front of him. She was starting to wonder if FP didn’t have an ulterior motive to sending her. His reasoning that Jughead would only listen to her didn’t sit well and yet she'd accepted it, letting her heart make her decision instead of her head.

Now here she was, with him cuffed to her bed and all she could think about was how many other women had cuffed him to their bed. How many women did he want to say goodbye to in this place? How many women were there in all the places he’d been? Betty sighed and pulled away from the door, blocking the thoughts from her head. What did it even matter? They hadn’t been together in almost 10 years and feeling upset about who he might have been sleeping with during that time was irrational.

Betty pulled away from the door and turned on the shower and after getting it as hot as she could stand, she quickly stripped down and stepped under the hot spray, hissing at the tingle on her skin. She took her time, washing the stickiness of the day off, trying to mentally prepare herself to spend the night in a one bed room with her ex that still made her feel more than she wanted to feel. She got out of the shower and dried off and realized with an annoyed sigh that she’d left her bag in the room. Grumbling to herself, she wrapped the towel around her body and slowly opened the door.

Jughead lay as she’d left him, staring at the ceiling and when he turned to look at her, his eyes widened a little in surprise before he quickly looked back to the ceiling.

“I’m not really in the mood, sweetie,” he said nonchalantly. Betty rolled her eyes and grabbed her bag from the chair next to the bed.

“You wish,” she muttered, as she locked herself in the bathroom again.

Jughead let out the breath that had caught in his throat when he’d seen her wrapped in only a towel and closed his eyes. “Fuck,” he muttered. Now all he could picture were those legs that seemed longer than he remembered. Images flashed in his head of them wrapped around him, Betty moaning beneath him, her body tightening on his. “I’m in hell,” he groaned, wiping his hand down his face. He decided right then that he hated FP Jones.

When Betty re-emerged from the bathroom, she was dressed in a baggy t-shirt and a pair of sweats and he was going to be honest, she was as sexy in that as she was in a towel. Walking over to his side of the bed, she unlocked the cuff and freed his wrist and he rubbed the sting away as he regarded her. 

“What, you’re not going to cuff me for the night?” he asked curiously. Betty paused and glanced at him.

“Are you going to try and run?” she asked. 

“No,” Jughead answered immediately.

“Alright then,” she shrugged. 

“Seriously?” he laughed. “You locked me up for a shower and you’re going to leave me free while you sleep. You trust me?” Betty met his gaze and he felt like the air was sucked from the room. The green as brilliant and alive as it had always been.

“Yes,” she answered him simply. He gave her a nod, unsure of how to respond and she turned away and went to the phone. “Is there anything to order in here? I’m a little hungry.”

“Elena’s, a little restaurant attached to the bar will deliver. She makes an amazing Casada.”

“What is that?”

“Hand me the phone, I’ll order. You’ll like it, I promise,” Jughead said with a smile and she passed it to him and he placed the order and settled back on the bed. “So, what’s the plan, exactly?” he asked.

“Tomorrow we gather your things and you say whatever goodbye’s you want to say and then we head to the docks. We’ll take a boat to one of the islands where your father’s plane is waiting to take us back to New York.”

“Does he have his name painted across it yet?” Jughead asked with a roll of his eyes. He didn’t meet her gaze, inwardly squirming a little at her curious look.

“What’s with you and your father?” she asked, sitting down on the bed and pulling her knees up. “Why have you spent the last decade running around the planet and seemingly away from him?”

“Is that what you think I’ve been doing?” he asked, turning to look at her. “Running from my father?”

“I don’t know. You seem to be running from something. I mean, you guys have all this money now, you’re dad’s franchise is insanely successful. I don’t understand why you’re spending all your time away from home.”

“I guess it just doesn’t feel like home anymore,” he shrugged and got up to walk over to the old TV that was sitting on a shelf. He clicked it on and there was only one snowy channel to watch and he settled himself in the chair and stared at it, not really watching. He could feel her eyes burning a hole in him and he held himself still, refusing to look at her. He had no interest in starting a pointless conversation about what his life the last 10 years had been like. In a couple days she would once again be out of his life and he’d go on like he always had. Alone.

When the food arrived, Betty realized that Jughead was right. She did like it. A mixed platter of a variety of things from meat, rice, beans, a cabbage salad, some sweet fried plantains and tortillas and she helped him finish the entire dish. There wasn’t much talk after they’d eaten and Betty decided to go to sleep. 

“So, am I sleeping on the floor?” Jughead asked, standing next to the bed, dragging a hand through his hair. It flopped over his forehead like it always did and Betty had a mad urge to just pull him down on top of her and let him do dirty things to her. Why the hell was he so beautiful? It was infuriating. “Well?”

She sighed and climbed under the covers. “Sleep on the bed but use the blanket on the chair. I’m not sharing.”

“Well, you always did steal the blanket anyway,” he muttered as he turned to grab it. She froze and stared at him and he paused, realizing what he’d said. “Sorry,” he said sheepishly. “The thought came like a reflex.” She lay down and turned away from him, rolled tightly in her blanket as if to protect herself. It was going to be a long night.

When she woke the next morning, Betty found herself face to face with Jughead. At some point during the night they had lost one blanket and were now sharing one which was tangled in their legs and much to her horror, one of her legs was nestled between his. His arm was under her neck and it would have been an intimate embrace if there was anything romantic between them. She studied his face for just a moment and itched to touch it but she curled her fingers in and refrained. He needed a haircut but she’d always loved his longer unruly hair and nothing had changed. It still flopped everywhere and it still looked soft and touchable. Her gaze dropped to his mouth and she forgot for a second and touched her finger to his lip. Jerking her hand back and she winced at her stupidity. Moving as cautiously as she could, Betty slowly untangled herself from him, being careful not to wake him and hurried into the bathroom, locking the door behind her.

Back on the bed, Jughead’s eyes slowly opened and he stared at the closed door, letting out a long frustrated sigh. He shifted and pulled the pillow over his head and groaned. His entire body was tense and the touch of her fingertip still lingered on his lip and he felt it all the way to his groin.

“I’m seriously in hell,” he whispered into the suffocating material.


	2. Dead in the Water

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone :) Sorry i'm so late with this, i'm just super tired and lazy these days. But I promise the next chapter will not take this long!!!
> 
> Also, it's not a very long chapter but I decided it was a good place to stop the chapter :) 
> 
> Enjoy!!

Betty got her things together while Jughead was in the bathroom and was ready and waiting for him when he came out. 

“We’ll head over to your place now and you can get your stuff before we leave,” she informed him as she glanced around, making sure she hadn’t left anything. He folded his arms across his chest and glared at her. 

“Just how fast are you expecting me to pack up and move?” he asked. “I had a life here, you know, I have people to say goodbye to.”

“Yes, so you said. You’re lady friends,” Betty said as she rolled her eyes. Jughead grinned as he watched her face. 

“That really bugs you, doesn’t it,” he laughed. “That I have lady friends?”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” she snapped and then let out a sigh of frustration that he was getting under her skin so quickly. “Look,” Betty began again. “Take as much time as you need, but we do need to leave by noon, no excuses.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, his tone slightly mocking. 

They left the hotel and Jughead motioned down the street to the bar and they headed there. He walked around the side to a door that he pulled open revealing a narrow wooden staircase leading up into what seemed like a black hole.

“Watch your step,” he said suddenly as he headed up. “Five steps up stay on the left or your foot will go through the hole that hasn’t been fixed.” 

She followed his direction and at the top of the stairs he led her down a dimly lit hall to the second door and he pulled out his keys and opened it, stepping back to let her in. He was still a gentleman. It was the room he obviously rented and she stayed by the door as he started to gather his things.

It was clean but very small, barely fitting the bed and small desk that housed a small TV and his laptop and he obviously ate elsewhere because there wasn’t even a counter to put a hot plate. He had a shelf that was filled with books and other personal things. There was a small closet that he pulled clothes out of and put them in the bag he pulled from under the bed. She tried not to look at the still rumpled sheets. She tried not to wonder how many women had been under the sheets with him. 

“You don’t have a lot of stuff for someone who’s been here a year,” she commented as he cleared his shelf into the large bag he carried. “Why did you insinuate like you had a lot of pack?”

“I travel and live light,” he shrugged. “As for my insinuations, deal with it.” 

She rolled her eyes and looked around again. “You don’t have a washroom in here?”

“Down the hall. Everyone who rents a room shares it.” 

Betty nodded and remained quiet while he finished. Her eyes zeroed in on the photo he had tucked into a book that lay on the desk. It was mostly covered but she could see the bottom half of it and she’d recognize the clothes anywhere. It was them at the school dance when they were 16. Her heart squeezed, wondering why he carried the picture with him and she quickly looked away before he noticed her noticing.

“You have all the money in the world, why do you choose to live like this?” she asked quietly. Jughead glanced at her and she couldn’t seem to look away as his eyes locked with hers. They were as magnetic as they’d always been.

“Because it’s _my_ choice,” he said flatly. 

His point was clear as crystal.

It didn’t take him long to pack up his things and they headed back downstairs. “I need to return the key and say goodbye to some people,” he said, tilting his head towards the bar entrance and she simply nodded and followed him inside. It was a quaint little place, much like you’d expect of a bar in a small village sitting on the ocean in Costa Rica. A few tables, a few regulars and a sultry exotic beauty behind the bar. 

“Jughead! You’re free!” 

Of course he knew her, Betty thought with an irritated pang. 

“Hi Maria,” he said with a smile as she came around the counter. 

Maria. 

So Virginal. 

Betty inwardly rolled her eyes at herself. What the hell was wrong with her? She had no reason to feel any animosity toward this women, even if it turned out she was Jughead lover. She had walked away from him a decade ago and what he had chosen to do with his life since then was none of her business.

Jughead wrapped his arms around the woman and lifted her off the ground in a big hug and she laughed as he set her down. “Are you leaving us?” she asked.

“Yes, sadly I have to go back to the US but I figured maybe before I leave you’ll give me that kiss I’ve been begging a year for,” he said with a grin. The woman laughed and turned her head, tapping her cheek. 

“Oh alright,” she sighed in mock annoyance. Betty glanced away as Jughead’s lips grazed the woman’s cheek.

“Jones, get your lips off my wife,” came a booming voice from the side of the bar. 

Betty stepped back and watched a man as beautiful as the woman he claimed as wife get up from a table, a wide grin on his face. He strode over to Jughead and they did some kind of bro shake and embrace and she looked away. He had an entire life with friends and he clearly had been happy here and she felt like an intruder. 

“Where’s mama?” Jughead asked, stepping back. On cue, an old woman who looked as sweet as anyone Betty had ever seen came through a back door and her eyes lit up when she saw Jughead.

“Oh my sweet boy,” she exclaimed, rushing over. “I was wondering when they were going to let you out of that jail.” From the soft look on Jughead’s face and the joy in the woman’s eyes, Betty knew that they meant a lot to each other. “Imagine, jailing a man for helping out an old woman trying to get drunks out of her bar and now I hear that you have to go back to the US?” she said shaking her head. “Who’s going to take care of me and fix all the crap in this place?”

“I’m sure Carlos can help you,” Jughead laughed, giving the woman another squeeze.

“Do you think before you go you can have one more look at the generator?” she asked. “If you really can’t figure out the problem, then I’ll finally take your advice and get a new one,” she finished sheepishly. 

“Give me a few minutes, Betty?” Jughead asked, turning to look at her. She nodded quickly and he headed to the back room with the man that she assumed was Carlos.

Betty turned and found the old woman watching her curiously and she gave her a small smile. It was a little unnerving, the intensity of her stare.

“Your name is Betty?” The woman asked it in a way that made it seem like she was familiar with the name and Betty paused and gave the old lady her full attention.

“Yes,” she replied softly. “He…he mentioned me?”

“Not willingly.”

“I don’t know what that means,” Betty said with a shake of her head, wondering how someone could force him to talk about her.

“We had fever go through the village a few months back. Some people got very sick and Jughead was one of them. He said some things when he was delirious with fever and I heard your name often,” the old woman said with a knowing smile.

“Oh,” Betty said quietly, rubbing her arms to ward off a sudden chill, which was ridiculous because it was hot and humid. “Did you…did you tell him what he was saying?”

“No, I didn’t,” the woman said slowly. “I figure if he didn’t ever talk about you willingly, I wasn’t going to let on that he spoke of you when he was sick with fever.” She watched Betty for a while, as if trying to gauge her reaction. “Would you like to know what he said?”

Gazing at her for a while, a woman with a kind face and probably many secrets gathered in her lifetime and now she had one that every part of Betty wanted to know, but something deep inside was terrified of what truths the lady would speak. She didn’t look like someone who would say something knowing it would be hurtful, but Betty wasn’t sure she wanted to hear anything good either. What she wanted to do was get Jughead home so she could go back to her life.

“No, I don’t,” she answered softly. “As you said, if he won’t say it willingly, then it’s not for me to hear.” The woman smiled gently and stepped closer, lifting her hand and touching Betty’s forehead. She didn’t know what to make of it so she just stood still and waited.

“Both of you, so lost and yet, the way is so clear to see.” With that confusing comment, the woman turned and left the bar.

“Don’t mind her,” Maria said with a laugh behind the bar. “She usually has something very insightful to say, even if it does take you a year to figure it out.” Betty just smiled slightly and the woman tilted her head and studied her for a bit. “She was right though, Jughead never mentioned you that I ever heard but of course I was busy taking care of my husband when people got sick, so I don’t know what she could have heard Jughead say while he was feverish. Have you known him long?”

“My entire life,” Betty said quietly, glancing down at the floor. She didn’t want to talk about Jughead with a complete stranger who probably knew more about him than she did at this point.

“May I ask you something?” 

Betty shrugged with indifference and turned her attention back to the woman.

“Why are you taking Jughead home?”

“Because he’s being deported. Third offence or something…”

“Huh,” Maria said with a furrowed brow. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“What doesn’t make any sense?”

“Ask Jughead,” she smiled and went back to her work behind the bar.

Betty was confused but not enough to question the woman. If she remembered later, maybe she would ask him what Maria meant, but right now, she really just wanted him to hurry so they could start their trip home. A few minutes later he came back into the front bar and walked over to an air conditioning unit that was installed in the wall. He reached up and plugged it in and Betty couldn’t help but admire his build as he moved. He was definitely no longer a lanky thin boy.

“Give it a go, Carlos,” he yelled to the back and the unit sputtered a bit before once again going silent. “Dammit,” he muttered with a sigh. He turned and lifted his hands in surrender as Carlos walked into the room. “It’s just time for Mama to get a new one,” Jughead informed him. “It can’t be fixed anymore.”

“Yeah, she knows,” the man laughed. “I think she just wants to keep you busy.”

“Make sure she gets a new one, alright?” Jughead said with a smile, his voice soft with affection for the old woman. 

“Yeah, I’ll make sure.”

Betty waited while he said his goodbyes and stepped outside as he grabbed his bags and looked around one last time. He followed her, his face sullen and cloudy. She didn’t say anything, feeling a heaviness in her heart that made her want to cry. He clearly loved it there and even though it wasn’t her fault that he had leave, she felt awful about it.

“What’s our way out of here?” he asked suddenly, his voice clipped and hard. 

“Um….your father has a boat for us at the docks and we take it to a resort island a few hours from here. There’s a private jet waiting for us there.”

“Great,” he retorted and turned in the direction of the docks at the end of town.

“Jug…” she said slowly and he stopped and turned to look at her.

“What?”

“I’m…I’m sorry you have to leave,” Betty spoke quietly. He let out a laugh and turned away again.

“And yet here you are to collect me,” he scoffed as he headed again towards the docks. 

She sighed and hurried after him. At the docks she found the boat and looked around, finding it quite deserted. Jughead climbed aboard and threw his bags on the bench and walked around. 

“This thing have a captain?” he asked as he looked over the vessel. 

“Well, it’s supposed to,” Betty sighed, looking around the docks and seeing nobody. 

“We got a note here,” Jughead informed her from the steering. “Apparently an emergency came up and the captain won’t be able to take us to the plane until tomorrow.”

“Are you serious?” she groaned. “I promised your…” Her voice trailed off and he rolled his eyes.

“You promised my father?” 

“Yes, Jughead,” she snapped. “I promised your father I’d have you back by Friday and I’m already a day behind because of flight delays.”

“Well, I’ll go make sure we’re cleared and we’ll be on our way,” he said with a shrug.

Betty raised an eyebrow as she looked at him in surprise. “You know how to drive this thing?”

“I’ve been living here for over a year, Betty,” he informed her. “If you live here, you learn to operate a boat.”

“Yeah, but this is…”

“A small cabin cruiser? I wasn’t talking about a canoe. Now, do you want me to take us or not? There is a storm expected tonight but we can beat it easily if we start now or we may be stuck here a few more days.”

Betty studied him for a moment, weighing her options. “You’re not going to leave me on a deserted island, are you?” she resigned with a sigh. Jughead smirked as he checked all the switches and made sure all was as it should be.

“Oh, it’s tempting sweetheart,” he admitted and then laughed at her glare. “But no, I assure you, I’ll get you to the plane.”

“Us.”

“I’ll get _us_ to the plane,” he shrugged. “It should take about 4 hours according to this course in the GPS.”

Betty sat down while Jughead readied the boat and called it in that he would captain and he got the all clear that they could head out. She watched him work and couldn’t seem to take her eyes off of him. She hadn’t seen him in years and he looked amazing. Still so handsome, even more than she remembered. He had always been lanky and a little awkward but this man in front of her carried himself with a quiet confidence that made something stir inside her that she desperately tried to push back down.

He was confident, relaxed and seemed completely at peace. He seemed like he had truly found happiness and she wanted to scream with annoyance. Why wasn’t his life as shitty as hers? Why wasn’t he miserable? Why wasn’t he floundering and wondering what to do next? No, he seemed to have it all together and worked out and she was a complete and utter mess.

“You might want to relax a little,” Jughead said, not lifting his head from what he was doing and she got even more irritated that he could still read her so well without even looking at her.

“I’m fine,” she snapped and then sighed at her surly tune. He straightened and turned to look at her, his brow creased in a frown.

“You don’t sound fine,” he said with a raised brow. 

“How soon until we can leave?” she asked, ignoring his observation.

“Wow,” he laughed. “You might actually like it here if you unclenched and tried to enjoy yourself. It’s a beautiful place.” He started the boat on the last comment and slowly maneuvered it away from the dock.

It wasn’t the place, she wanted to say. It was him. She felt overwhelmed and unprepared and wondered again why the hell she had agreed to do this.

“I’m going to go check out the cabin,” she said quickly and headed down into the small space. It was small, with a single bed, a tiny kitchenette and bathroom. Any seating would be either on the deck above or the bed and she dropped her bag on the counter by the sink and let out a long sigh. Four hours to the plane, then on to New York and then she could forget this trip ever happened.

Betty almost rolled her eyes at herself. She agreed to do it and now she was acting like a child wishing she hadn’t. She had wanted to see him and that was the truth of it. No matter what she told herself, she had said yes because after so many years, she had wanted to see Jughead. She sat on the bed and leaned against the wall, trying to calm herself as they set out, the rocking motion of the boat something she would have to get used and hoping it didn’t take too long. She preferred to be on land not in boats or planes and here she was, running after an ex because apparently she couldn’t let go.

She wasn’t sure how long she sat down there by herself but Jughead suddenly came down the steps and filled the door way and in the tiny cabin he seemed larger than life and quite literally sucked the air from the space.

“Who’s driving?” she asked, confused.

“The autopilot. The GPS is set so it will mostly drive itself.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, moving to peak out at the water.

“I’m sure. We’re perfectly safe, I promise.” He leaned against the doorframe, his hands in his pockets and regarded her silently for a while before he spoke. “How did my dad convince you to come get me?”

“The lady in the bar, she said it didn’t make sense when I said you’d been jailed three times and deported. What did she mean by that?” Betty asked, ignoring his question. Jughead laughed and folded his arms across his chest.

“Oh, maybe it’s because I’m arrested pretty much every single week because I throw drunk idiots out of Mama’s bar and because they are locals and I’m not, I get thrown in the slammer for the night. It’s nothing new and I’m usually let out the following morning. Call it my Friday night home away from home.”

“I don’t understand…” Betty said slowly, a frown creasing her forehead. “Why are you suddenly being deported then?”

“I’m not.”

“Then why am I here?”

“Because my father wants me home and he paid the officials in the jail to not release me until someone comes to collect me and make sure I get to New York.”

“Wait,” she sat up in surprise. “How do you know this?”

“Because I have friends here,” he shrugged. “They tell me shit.”

“So why the hell did he send me?” Betty asked.

“Probably because he knew I wouldn’t fight you on it.”

Betty didn’t say anything, holding his gaze and feeling her heart race in her chest.

“Like I said, he doesn’t play fair.”

“Why does he want you back in New York so bad?” she asked, pulling her legs up and wrapping her arms around them.

“Because he wants me to take over the Jones empire and I really don’t give a shit.”

Betty noted his frustration and she wondered at the struggle between father and son.

“Why don’t you care?” she asked curiously. “You’d be set for life.”

“I’m already set for life with my portion, I just don’t want the responsibility that comes along with the rest of it,” Jughead admitted.

“You were once all about responsibility,” she reminded him. “So responsible, you couldn’t even bear to leave Riverdale.”

Jughead glared. “Seriously?” he snapped. “That’s really old shit to be throwing in my face.”

“Just an observation,” she said flatly.

“Whatever,” he muttered and turned to head back to the deck. 

Betty let her head fall back against the wall and closed her eyes.

“Shit,” she whispered. She lay down on the bed and sighed in frustration. Maybe a nap would get her sorted. Closing her eyes, she let the rocking of the boat lull her to sleep.

“Betty….Betts, wake up!”

Betty groaned and forced her eyes open, realizing she had fallen asleep pretty quickly. She looked at Jughead crouched next to the bed and squinted at him.

“We have a problem,” he sighed and she slowly sat up.

“What kind of problem?”

“The boat’s dead.”

“What do you mean, the boat’s dead?” she asked with a frown, suddenly realizing she couldn’t hear the engine but she could hear rain and wind. 

“I honestly have no idea. Everything was going fine and suddenly it just went dead.”

“Why is it storming? You said we were going to beat the storm.” she reminded him with wide eyes.

“Well, I guess the weather reports were off by a few hours. It’s getting nasty and the boat is dead in the water. Nothing works, not even the radio,” he said in bewilderment.

Betty grabbed the edge of the bed as the boat lurched and she looked at him fearfully. “What do we do?” she gasped, looking around in confusion. “Are we safe in this thing?”

“I don’t know and with this wind picking up…” he paused and held her gaze, his face grim. “There is an island nearby and I have no steering power. There’s a good chance the wind and waves will slam us onto the beach.”

“Jug?” she whimpered, feeling suddenly nauseous with fear and the lurching of the boat.

“Just stay down here okay? I’m going to make sure things are secured up top and I’ll be right back.”

Betty pulled her knees up to her chin and waited nervously, gasping every time the boat lurched to the side. Jughead came down moments later with some things he clearly didn’t want damaged and quickly stashed them where he figured they’d be safe and grabbed her hand, pulling her off the bed. She watched as he grabbed the mattress and dropped it onto the floor before tugging her down on it.

“Get as close to the wall as you can and don’t wrap a blanket around yourself. If we tip or take on water, I don’t want anything to keep you from getting out of here.”

Betty’s worry went into full on panic at his words and she huddled close to the wall. He came down beside her and pressed close, his arms coming around her.

“What’s happening?” she asked tearfully.

“We’re going to hit the beach and I have no idea if there are any rocks in the way. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Are we going to die?” she asked with a gasp as he pulled her close. 

“I’ll do my best to make sure we don’t,” he said quietly, tucking her head under his chin.

“I’m going to sue your father,” she whimpered, pressing closer and hiding her face in his shirt.

“I’ll testify on your behave,” he offered and she would have laughed if she wasn’t so terrified. She let out a small cry when the boat hit something and lurched to the side. “Rocks,” Jughead murmured, holding her tighter. “Hold on.”

Betty closed her eyes and felt him press her against the mattress, half covering her. She’d be lying if she said she hadn’t thought about this very thing a million times over the last decade but she certainly hadn’t figured it would be just as she was about to drown in the damn ocean. Before she even realized what happened, the boat suddenly lurched to the side and both of them hit the wall. 

“Fuck!” Jughead blurted as something hit him in the side of the head. Things crashed around and it felt like the boat was going to roll right over before it shifted and immediately rolled in the opposite direction. They hit something again and Betty squeezed her eyes shut as she heard things crashing around them and then she felt the cold water.

“Oh my God,” she gasped, pulling back and opening her eyes. Water was coming down the stairs and the floor and mattress were soaked.

“It’s just the waves,” Jughead yelled above the noise. “We’re still upright.”

“I don’t want to die like this,” she cried out in fear. They lurched again and were thrown against the wall. Jughead tried to keep her close but when the boat again rolled the opposite direction, he hit the wall and she slid toward the stairs, the mattress doing nothing to protect them.

“Jughead!” she cried out as water came pouring down the stairs. She saw him scrambling to get to her and then felt something slam into the side of her head. Betty blinked as stars appeared in her vision and pain exploded through her skull. 

“Betty!!” She faintly heard him calling to her, felt his grip on her hand before everything went black.

Jughead braced himself as best he could and pulled Betty close to him again. He was relieved to see she was still breathing and he wrapped his arms tightly around her and shimmed back into a corner, pulling the mattress up to form a bit of a barrier from flying objects. He mentally kicked himself for not securing shit before the storm got worse. He gritted his teeth when the boat hit rocks again and when it rolled once more and shuddered to a cracking halt he realized they had finally ran aground on the beach.

Jughead decided if they survived this, he was going to kick the shit out of FP Jones.


	3. Beached and Broken

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously though, im sorry i'm taking so long with this fic. Life was insane before this pandemic and let's be honest, it's gotten a lot worse but on we go.... 
> 
> It's not the longest chapter, but it was a good place to stop....and I seriously do promise to stop taking so damn long to post.

The first thing that registered to Betty when she regained consciousness was the pounding headache she had. For a moment she forgot where she was and wondered just how much she had had to drink and where the hell was she?

“Betty?”

The soft gentle voice didn’t help matters and she furrowed her brow in pain and confusion. Why was she wet?

“Betty? Can you hear me?” the voice prompted again. “Come on honey, wake up for me, okay?”

Honey? Who called her honey?

“Betts?”

Jughead.

“What happened?” she managed, lifting a hand and pressing it against her forehead trying to ease the pounding.

“You hit your head,” he said softly. “Do you remember anything?”

Betty thought for a second and then it all came to her and realized she was laying in wet sand and could hear the pouring rain but couldn’t feel it. Slowly opening her eyes, she took note of her surroundings and closed them again against the light.

“You set up a tent?” 

“Of a sort,” Jughead sighed, touching his hand gently to the side of her head. She winced and he eased his touch.

“We didn’t die,” Betty stated with a relieved sigh.

“No, we didn’t die, but the boat is beached and we aren’t going anywhere at the moment.”

“This is not how this was supposed to go,” she breathed out, wincing at the sharp pain in her head, her chin trembling.

“We’ll be alright,” Jughead said softly, squeezing her hand to reassure her.

“How do you know?”

“I’ve been in these parts long enough to know at some point a boat will go by and I checked ours, it’s pretty well stocked. There is plenty of bottled water, food and supplies. It’s storm season and people are smart enough to know to have emergency kits on board. Unfortunately the radio is water logged but I turned on the S.O.S. beacon so no worries, we’ll be found.”

“Does it take long?” Betty asked.

“Well,” Jughead said slowly. “While I’m fully confident that we’ll be rescued, I’m not sure anyone will attempt it until the storm passes because it’s just simple folks around here and the coast guard isn’t near these parts usually. They’ll patrol after the storm. It’s only going to get worse and we need to make or find a better shelter than this.”

“We can’t just stay on the boat?”

“No. It’s on it’s side and has too much water to even attempt to get comfortable.”

Betty slowly pushed herself up and let out a groan at the ache in her head. 

“You should lie down,” he said softly. “I’ll go have a look around. You may have a concussion.”

She focused on his face and realized he wasn’t in much better shape. There was a bleeding cut above his eyebrow and one side of his face was scratched up. “Are you hurt?” she asked, touching the cut. 

He winced and pulled back and managed a smile. “There was a lot of stuff flying around. I’ll be alright.”

Betty lowered her hand and shivered, suddenly realizing how cold and wet she was. Jughead frowned and grabbed a wet blanket that was lying bunched next to her and wrapped it around her shoulders. “That doesn’t help much,” she said, her voice shaking.

“I know,” he sighed. “I need to find a better place to shelter us and then I’ll make a fire.”

“I can help,” Betty insisted, even as she shivered.

“No, you need to stay here.”

“Jug, just let me…”

“Fuck! Betty….” He snapped and she sat back in surprise. “Just stay!” he growled. Before she had a chance to respond he ducked out from under the tarp and disappeared into the rain.

As angry as that made her, her pounding head told her that he was probably right, she shouldn’t be running around in a storm. But Jughead was hurt too and he shouldn’t be doing it either. She moved over to the opening and peered out through the rain and looked around where they were. It was hard to see but she could make out the trees and the rock cliffs. She also saw the boat laying on its side on the sand and let out a frustrated sigh.

“So much for beating the storm,” Betty grumbled. And how the hell does a boat just suddenly go completely dead she wondered. She moved back a little and a few moments later, Jughead suddenly appeared in front of her, seeming to materialize out of the rain causing her to let out a startled yell.

“I found a cave,” he said, wiping the water from his face with a drag of his hand. “It’s big enough for us to build a fire and be comfortable enough while we’re stuck here.” Betty could only nod and took his hand when he held it out. “It’s not far and if we run, we won’t be in the rain more than a minute.”

“Okay,” she managed to shiver out. He nodded and helped her up, steadying her as she got her bearings as much as she could hunched under the tarp.

“Ready?”

Betty nodded again and he turned and tugged her from under the shelter, she gasped as she was pounded immediately with rain. Running blindly, unable to see anything as he all but dragged her behind him. He was right, it didn’t take long and suddenly they were out of the rain and she gasped, wiping the rain from her eyes. Jughead was right, it was a small cave but big enough for them to settle in while they waited. 

“How are you going to start a fire? Any wood you find will be wet.”

“Don’t worry about that,” he shrugged. “I’ll get one going. First though, I’ll bring some of the supplies that we could use tonight and I’ll worry about the rest later.”

“Do you need some help?”

“No, I got it.”

“But I can…”

“Betty…” he sighed, holding up his hand. “Can you please just listen to me and stay here. I don’t want you to get hurt anymore.” She was about to argue when he headed out into the rain again and she kicked the sand that served as the cave floor in frustration.

“Stop ordering me around!” she yelled out into the storm, not caring that he probably couldn’t hear her. She regretted it immediately when her head started pounding again. Sinking down into the sand, she wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her forehead on her knees, willing the pain to stop.

Betty wasn’t sure how long she waited, but it seemed like forever before Jughead finally got to the cave. He was carrying several bags and she sat shivering while he rummaged through the big one and pulled out a blanket. 

“Take your clothes off,” he said, his attention still on the bag.

“Excuse me?”

He let out a sigh and turned to look at her. “Get out of your wet clothes,” he explained. “You’ll never warm up if you keep them on. You can leave the underwear but this blanket won’t do much good if you get it all wet from your clothes.” She nodded and hurried to do as he asked and then sighed in relief when he wrapped the blanket around her, pulling it tight in the front. “Good?” he asked softly, his eyes searching her face. She shivered and realized it wasn’t from the cold. His eyes were as magnetic as they’d always been and if she wasn’t careful, she would drown in them. “Betts?”

“Yeah….yes…” she said quickly, giving herself a mental shake. 

“I’m going to find some wood. I promise I’ll be back soon,” he said quickly before leaving again. 

It didn’t take him long and he was back, his arms full of small pieces of wood. She watched silently as he arranged them in a teepee design before pulling a small bottle from one of the bags. Whatever was in the bottle served as an accelerant as he poured a little over the wood before putting it aside and pulling out a lighter. The flame caught quickly but surprisingly didn’t flare up like gasoline would.

“What is in the bottle?” she asked curiously.

“Diesel fuel, from the boat,” he answered, adding more wood to build the fire. “It doesn’t flare like gasoline and burns slower so the wood can dry and catch the flame.” The smell from the fuel dissipated quickly and soon the small cave warmed up and chased out the chill. 

“Thank you,” Betty said softly, moving closer and opening the blanket a little to let the fire warm her skin. 

“You’re welcome.”

“Maybe you should get out of your clothes too,” she suggested, noting how his body shivered and his lips had a slight blue tinge. He was freezing and he only nodded as he grabbed what she realized now was his bag. Hers was sitting there as well. She stared at the fire as he undressed, sneaking only a small peek before averting her eyes again. Why the hell was he so beautiful? She felt her stomach clench and she lowered her head to her knees and let out a breath. 

“You alright?” he asked suddenly. 

“Fine,” she said, maybe a little too harshly.

“You have any warm clothes?” he asked, handing over her bag.

“I didn’t think I would need warm clothes.”

“Well, you didn’t really,” Jughead shrugged. “But tonight you need them.” He reached into his bag and pulled out a pair of pajama pants and handed them to her. “These will work. A little big obviously, but they will work.”

“Don’t you need them?” she asked, taking them and attempting to put them on without the blanket falling off her.

“I have another pair.” 

When she got the pants on and her own t-shirt, she sat back down by the fire, finally feeling herself get warm. Jughead didn’t bother hiding his state of undress as he stood in his boxers, rummaging for a t-shirt. She closed her eyes and stifled a groan when his fingers hooked his boxers to pull them down as they were wet. She waited the appropriate amount of time before opening them again and found him in only the pajama pants, grinning at her. She rolled her eyes and he laughed out loud.

“Seriously, Betty? You basically eye fucked me while I was showering full ass nude in jail and now you’re closing your eyes?”

“I wasn’t eye fucking you!” she huffed.

“Pretty sure you were,” he smirked and she wanted to throw a piece of burning wood at him. “Relax,” Jughead laughed when she fixed a furious glare on him. “I’m only messing around. You hungry?”

His sudden change of subject startled the frown from her face and she only nodded. He handed her a bottle of water and a protein bar and she smiled her thanks and opened the bottle. Betty watched as he settled down by the fire and held his hands out, warming them in the heat. His black hair fell across his eyes, still wet, the occasional drop collecting on the end of a particular curl before dropping down his front. His eyes suddenly shifted from the fire and locked with hers and she forgot to breathe at the intensity of his gaze.

She remembered all those years ago when she had chosen to walk away from him, his eyes had been filled with anger and hurt but now they just gazed at her with an open curiosity as if he was trying to figure out just how they hell they had ended up where they now were. His constant shift between arrogant teasing and intense study was making her head spin.

“You involved with anyone?” he asked suddenly and she raised an eyebrow in surprise.

“Really? That’s what you’re starting with?”

“You still an investigative journalist?” His immediate shift to a different subject made her head hurt again.

“Can we not?” she sighed.

“What? You want to sit here for the next…however long this will be….and just stare at each other?” he asked. “I mean, I don’t mind,” Jughead shrugged. “Can’t say I hate the view.” 

She suddenly felt naked, the way he gazed at her. She tugged the blanket tighter around herself and he rolled his eyes.

“Would you relax,” he all but growled. “I’ve seen it all before and you’re acting like I’m going to attack you or something.”

“You’re purposely trying to aggravate me,” she snapped.

“I just asked if you were still working?” he snapped back. “What’s with the constant hostility? Why the fuck are you even here? You act like you’d like to be anywhere but here, so why are you here?”

“I’m here because our damn boat died and we hit the beach!”

“In Costa Rica Betty! Why are you here?”

“Because your father asked me to come get you,” Betty replied. Thunder suddenly cracked through the pouring rain and she almost jumped out of her skin. “Shit,” she gasped.

“Yeah, it seems louder out here than in a big city. It’s about to get really nasty.” 

He was right as the lightening suddenly started flashing and the wind picked up speed. The thunder was intense and she forgot all about their conversation as she pulled the blanket tighter. Jughead stood and walked to the entrance and stared out into the storm. 

“Let’s hope the wind doesn’t change direction and starts blowing the rain into here,” he murmured more to himself than anything. She barely heard him above the noise and she decided she was very happy that he was there with her.

“What time is it?” she asked when he came back to the fire. 

“Almost 6:00. It’s going to be dark in a bit. Sun sets early here, only 12 hours from sunrise to sunset, no matter what time of year it is. It takes a bit of getting used to, especially in the summer but I happen to like the still of the night.”

Betty only nodded and rubbed at her head, the furious pounding slowly coming back. Jughead noticed and went to grab one of the bags and knelt beside her, his hand gently touching her chin and turning her head.

“You in pain?” he asked softly, moving his fingers to probe at the side of her head. She winced when he found the large bump she’d sustained while flying around the boat. “There isn’t any bleeding so that’s good.” He dug through the bag and pulled out a bottle of pain killers and took out a couple and handed them to her. “Take these, they should help.”

“What else do you have in there?” she asked as she swallowed the pills.

“The usual first aid stuff,” Jughead said with a shrug. Betty took the bag and looked through it, finding an alcohol wipe and opening the packet. She motioned for him to sit and he obeyed, watching as she settled in front of him and brushed his hair off his forehead. The cut above his eye was still bleeding a bit and she touched the wipe to it, whispering her _sorry_ when he hissed at the sting. She cleaned it up and put a bandage on it before inspecting the scratches and seeing there wasn’t much she could do about those. 

“Do you have a headache?” she asked.

“A small one,” he shrugged. “Should be gone by morning. I think you should lie down and rest. You took a good bump and the pills and some sleep will help.”

Betty didn’t argue because her head really was pounding and she felt tired enough to sleep for a week. She sat back and watched as he lay his blanket down on the side of the fire away from the front entrance to the cave, as far back as he could go and motioned for her to lie down. When she did as he wanted, he tucked her own blanket around her and she curled into it, the warmth of it and the fire a soothing combination and soon found herself drifting off to sleep.

Jughead settled near the entrance of the cave and stared out into the storm for a while before turning his attention back to Betty. Of all the things he thought he’d be doing this weekend – granted, there hadn’t been much – but he never thought he’d be stuck on a small island with his ex-girlfriend. He had to admit, he didn’t quite know how to act around her. He went between giving glimpses of his true self and putting on a show that wasn’t real at all. A defence mechanism of sorts. She had once been so ingrained in his heart that when she left it, it had shattered. To this day he didn’t think that he’d found all its pieces and he was terrified to show her the ones that still remained.

Of course, he took half the responsibility of everything falling to shit. He hadn’t kept up his end of the bargain, hadn’t stuck to the plan but hadn’t actually thought that she’d end it.

He liked it here in Costa Rica and he’d finally felt like his life was calm and peaceful and now, thanks to his father and his constant meddling, that had just gone all to hell. Sending Betty had been a tactical move on his part. He’d known that Jughead wouldn’t put up a fight. He’d been so surprised at her appearance, he couldn’t even think straight and was following her right back to New York. Of course, he was only really going to tell his father off once and for all and then he was going to return to his paradise, but if he could spend a little time with Betty while he did that, well that wasn’t a horrible thing, even if they did spend it fighting.

Jughead studied her face as she slept, the firelight dancing across her skin and he wondered if they could ever be civil. It had ended in such anger and they hadn’t spoken sinse so he guessed maybe they had to fight through everything and hopefully come peacefully out the other side. He honestly couldn’t imagine spending the rest of his life without her in it somehow. 

He sat for a while longer and suddenly felt tired to his core and he got up and joined Betty on the blanket. He moved carefully so he wouldn’t wake her and managed to get her untangled from the cover and slipped in beside her. The storm drove the oppressive heat of summer away and it was chilly in the cave, the fire only providing a little warmth and he wrapped his arm around her and gently pulled her close, her back resting against his chest and tucked the blanket around them. He fell asleep breathing in the scent of her vanilla shampoo.

Betty awoke, her front freezing cold and she forgot, once again, where she was. It all came back very quickly when she saw the glowing embers of the fire and the rain still pouring down outside the cave. Despite the fact that her front was cold, her back felt like a warm furnace and she suddenly realized the arm around her waist, pulling her against a hard body. 

She slowly turned, not wanting to wake him, and found herself staring at Jughead's sleeping face, her front now getting nice and warm. She carefully snuggled closer, making sure the blanket covered her back so it didn’t get cold right away and pressed her hands to his chest so she could move closer. She was cold, he was warm and despite their day, he smelled good. Like the ocean and sunshine. 

“You alright?” he asked softly and she almost screamed in fright as he still looked like he was sleeping. She tried to moved away but he tightened his hold and wouldn’t let her budge. “Relax, I’m just making sure you’re okay.”

“I was cold,” she admitted, her breath catching as he opened his eyes. Even in the dim firelight, his eyes had the intensity and power to hold her prisoner.

“Better now.”

Betty nodded and she didn’t miss how his eyes flickered ever so briefly down to her mouth and she almost let out a groan. Why, after so many years could he make her feel like this almost instantly? She was wondering how she’d managed to survive without him if he could get under her skin so quickly after seeing him again. 

“We’re going to be okay, you know,” he smiled. “I’ve been through worse.”

“You’ve been through worse than being shipwrecked on a deserted island?”

“Well, I’d take this over that jail you got me out of any day,” he laughed. The way his body moved along hers was making her crazed but she refused to let him know it. He smirked as if he could read her mind and pulled her even tighter, his leg fitting between hers.

“Stop it,” she huffed and he smirked.

“What am I doing?”

“You know exactly what you’re doing,” Betty sighed, pushing against his chest.

“Spoil sport,” he chuckled and loosened his grip a little. She moved back and was frustrated when she realized that the blanket simply wasn’t big enough for there to be much space between them. Unless they each used one blanket, which would mean they’d be lying on the sand, being close together was the only way to stay warm.

“It’s cold,” she muttered and he hauled her back against him and all but shoved her head against his chest and wrapped both his arms around her. 

“Just go to sleep,” he ordered and she wanted to yell at him but he was just too warm and she drifted off to sleep thinking that she didn’t hate being so close to him. She didn’t hate it at all.

The following day was much the same. The rain poured down but the wind eased some and Betty sighed as she leaned against the wall of the cave, staring out into the deluge. Jughead added more wood to the fire before leaning against the opposite wall and looking over at her. He had a small piece of wood in his hand that he fiddled with as if he needed something to focus on.

“The rain should stop soon,” he said quietly. “These storms never last more than a couple days. After that they should be out looking for us if they’ve seen the signal.”

“If?” 

“Like I said, the station where I live is small and they do check the monitors, just probably every other day or so. Maybe with this storm, they’ll check sooner.”

“Why are you here? Like in Costa Rica?” she asked, studying him. She remembered him as a small town boy, then a leather wearing Serpent and now he was settled into a tropical country, living with and befriending to locals enough to become family and he was happy and relaxed. Well, he had been until she’d showed up.

“I like it here,” he shrugged. “Life is simple, nobody rushes about trying to frantically get through each day. I like the freedom. I like the trees better than the concrete of New York.”

“Riverdale had trees,” Betty reminded him. “You couldn’t wait to get away from there.”

“Yeah, well,” he muttered, throwing the small piece of wood he was holding into the fire. “There was nothing there that made me want to stay.”

“Funny, that’s not how I remember it,” she muttered, staring back at the rain. "I remember begging you to leave."

“You want to do this?” he asked suddenly, his anger evident in his voice. “We can have it out right now. This time there isn’t anywhere you can run.”

Betty glared at him. “I didn’t fucking run!” she snapped. “I only did what we had planned to do all along. You’re the one who decided there was something more important to do.”

“Still won’t take any responsibility,” he let out with a laugh. 

“It wasn’t my fault,” she insisted angrily.

“You fucking walked away!” 

“Because you chose the Serpents over me! It was you who walked away,” she yelled. The sound echoed around the cave and she let out a shaking sigh as her head started hurting once again.

“I’ve never in my life chosen anything or anyone over you,” he said firmly. “I simply asked you for time.”

“A year Jug,” Betty said bitterly. “You asked me to put my life on hold for a damn year!”

“And I meant so little that you wouldn’t even consider it. You simply walked away.”

“Fuck you if you think that was an easy decision,” she fumed, her eyes filling with angry tears. He said nothing in response and she was surprised when he suddenly rose and disappeared out into the rain. She let out a tearful whimper and pulled her knees up, resting her forehead on them. How were they ever going to get past this? Had she been wrong in wanting to get on with her life and refusing to wait? 

Betty got up and walked over to where he had stashed the bags and a few other things he’d run to get from the boat earlier in the day and pulled out some dry clothes that he was going to need when he got back. He had no more pajama pants but there was another clean pair of sweats and she grabbed those with a t-shirt and put them aside. It was sweltering hot when the sun was shining but this icy rain was going to make him sick if he didn’t stop going out in it. 

She guessed she waited an hour before he came back in, carrying another couple of bags and dropping them near the others. She stood slowly, pausing under his wary gaze. “I found you some dry clothes,” she said quietly, her voice shaking a little. She hated how upset and tired he looked and wished she had just kept her mouth shut. There was no reason to bring up the past. It was long done with and she hoped they could just move forward from here. She wanted to at least once again be his friend. “Please,” Betty whispered, motioning to his clothes. 

Jughead held her gaze and pulled his wet shirt over his head before moving to take off the soaked pajama pants he wore. She kept her gaze on his face, knowing he wasn’t wearing any underwear and handed him his dry clothes.

“I’m sorry I yelled,” she said softly. He didn’t say anything to that, just studied her for a moment before moving over to the bags.

“There is a small pot in the bag and we can heat up some soup on the fire. I know you must be hungry.” He bent down to pick up the bag and was surprised when she suddenly rushed over and wrapped her arms around his waist. Letting out a soft grunt at the impact, he dropped the bag and slowly wrapped his arms around her. “What’s this for?” he asked quietly, warily.

“I’m glad you’re here with me,” she cried into his shirt. Jughead sighed and moved his hand to her head, holding her tenderly against his chest, placing a gentle kiss on top of her head.

“We’ll be okay,” he murmured again.

“I know,” she sniffled. “I don’t want to fight with you.”

Jughead chuckled and pulled back a little so he could look down into her face. “But that’s what we do,” he smirked. “What else can we do with these sparks between us?” 

Betty let out a tearful laugh and rolled her eyes. “You’re so annoying,” she sighed. He just smiled and let his thumb rub across her bottom lip and she sucked in a tiny breath. 

“How about we eat something,” he suggested softly and she could only nod. 

There was a small truce for now but deep in her gut she knew it probably wouldn’t last. Their small fight had only showed her that they were both still so angry and one way or another, it was going to come to a head.

They were broken and she was determined to fix it.


	4. Making Messes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh hey, here I am again.
> 
> I suck at updating, I know....life is busy...that's all I got.
> 
> There is a lot of talking in this chapter....and then there is not talking....
> 
> I didn't take much time to edit so sorry if it has mistakes or maybe doesn't flow quite right...… 
> 
> I'll shut up now so you can read.... :D

When Betty woke the following morning, she immediately noticed that she was alone and that the noise of the rain was gone and sunlight filled the small cave. Sitting up, she squinted at the light and noticed the fire had gone out and wondered just where Jughead had gone. 

She could feel the heat was back and reached for her bag, fishing out a pair of shorts and a tanktop, pulling them on before leaving the cave. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust and then she let out a breath as she gazed at the beauty around her. The island was lush and green, the beach they were on boasting white sparkling sand. She had no idea how big the island was but Jughead had mentioned that it was small and she couldn’t tell from where she was. The cave they were in was right next to a clear water pool that was fed by a small waterfall and she wondered where the water was coming from. 

Betty turned when she heard a splash, her eyes scanning the pool and her breath caught when she saw Jughead in the water. He was waist deep and running his hands through his hair, squeezing out the water and brushing it off his face. Walking over to the rocks, he was about to pull himself out when she quickly cleared her throat and he turned to look at her.

“Hey,” he said with a smile. “Was wondering when you’d wake, was about to come get you. I figured you might want to have a dip before it starts storming again.”

“It’s not finished?” she asked in surprise, looking at the sky. While there was warm sunshine, she could see the darkness in the distance and it seemed to be heading their way.

“No, these storms usually last 2 or 3 days with small breaks in between. If someone has seen our signal, they may try and quickly get here but I doubt it. We’re too far out.”

“Will they know where we are?”

“Yes they will. The radar will show the coordinates of the island and I’m assuming they’ll know we’re washed up. They’ll probably also hope that nobody’s hurt,” Jughead informed her as he walked her way. 

“So we could be dead for all they know.”

“Well, I only turned on the S.O.S. once we were beached and they’ll see that.”

“You know a lot about this stuff,” she observed, watching him as he stopped right in front of her. 

“I’ve been here a while,” he shrugged. “Get in here and freshen up,” he then suggested.

“Why?” Betty asked, surprised.

“Because the water feels amazing and it will probably get really sticky in this heat before the rain comes again.”

Betty looked at the water running into the pool again, following it up the rock wall to the top. “Where does this water come from if this is a small island?”

“The rain collects at the top and flows down. This pool is only here when it’s rained, usually it’s just sand.”

“You’ve been here before?” she asked curiously, watching him move around in the water. It did indeed look very refreshing and she felt dusty and sticky.

“A few times, when I’ve gone out fishing for the day with some buddies. Always when it’s been dry though and there wasn’t any water in here,’ he explained. “Seriously, get out of your clothes and come in here.”

Betty looked at him in surprise. “You want me to get naked?” she asked.

“Well, you don’t have to, I just figured it would be more comfortable,” he said with a smirk, his face almost daring her to strip. “I mean, I’ve seen it all before.”

Betty bit her lip as she gazed at the water. It was clear and dipping her foot in proved it to be just cool enough to most likely be insanely refreshing. She looked again at the dark sky off in the distance.

“How long before that gets here?” she asked.

“Probably an hour or so,” Jughead said matter of factly. “So if you want to take advantage of a bath of sorts without all the salt, get in.”

“Okay, fine,” Betty sighed. “Don’t look.”

Jughead rolled his eyes but was respectful enough to turn around. She quickly shed her shorts and tank top and slid into the pool, letting out a satisfied groan as it washed over her flushed skin. After a moment he turned back to her and grinned.

“The water is very clear,” he mentioned casually, his eyes moving down her body. 

Betty looked down and let out a frustrated sigh. He could see everything. Well, she could see everything as well but she refrained from ogling him below the waist because she didn’t need any more crazy thoughts in her head.

“Stop looking,” she huffed, folding her arms over her chest.

“If it makes you feel any better, you look amazing,” he said simply, a smile playing at his lips. “Relax, I’ll be a perfect gentleman.” 

Betty nodded stiffly and tried to do as he suggested but it didn’t help matters at all that she actually wished he wouldn’t be such a gentleman. She couldn’t seem to stop thinking about him crowding her against the rocks, about his body brushing along the length of hers, wet and slippery. His mouth, that she still dreamed about at night, moving on her skin. 

Betty dipped herself under the water, rinsing her skin and hair to clean the sand out of it. She wanted to float around but wasn’t comfortable enough to put her breasts on full display, not with her dirty thoughts and the cool water tightening the nipples to almost painful. She almost groaned as she thought of Jughead’s mouth and tongue soothing them. When she dared to look at Jughead again, he was grinning at her.

“What?” she huffed, her face heating up.

“Nothing,” he laughed, falling back in the water and disappearing beneath the surface. 

“Dammit,” she muttered, splashing water on her face in hopes of erasing her blush. She had no doubt he knew exactly what she had been thinking about. He had always been able to read her like a book. She paid no attention to him and let out a shriek when he surfaced right in front of her. 

“You still have the best legs I’ve ever seen,” he commented, the teasing glint in his eyes taking on a little heat. 

“Stay on your side of the pool,” she managed to choke out and he chuckled softly, moving away from her. Betty had no idea what the hell he was doing, all she knew was that this flirting was a bad idea. 

Jughead settled against the rocks and studied her for a few minutes. “So, in all seriousness, how are you doing? I followed your work when you were an investigative journalist but then it seemed to stop and I wasn’t sure what you had moved on to,” he mentioned. Betty was surprised that he had followed her work and it must have shown on her face. “Just because you left doesn’t mean I stopped caring about your dreams,” he said with a shrug. “I had always hoped that you achieved everything you were so desperate to get to.”

“I wasn’t desperate to get to anything,” she said defensively. “I was just ready to move on with my life.” He said nothing and she let out a long sigh. “Well, after a few years of journalism, I realized I like the investigating part more than I liked telling the story and I became a full time private investigator.”

“Wow,” Jughead murmured, his surprise evident. “You did always love solving mysteries.”

“We both did,” she said quietly, settling herself against a rock. He just shrugged, not replying to her observation. She wanted to shake him. Wanted to yell at him that if he’d just gone with her, they could have done it together. “What about you?” she asked instead. “How on earth did you end up here? Where have you all been in the last ten years.”

“Everywhere and anywhere,” he said, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. “I’ve always wanted to travel the world and when I got the means to do it, I jumped at the opportunity.”

“That doesn’t seem like you, though,” Betty said quietly. “To just wander aimlessly without a purpose. Do you still write?”

“Everyday.”

“And you’ve never tried to get published?”

“Who says I’m not?” 

“I think I would know if you were published,” she insisted with a laugh. “How would you keep that a secret?”

“Publish under a different name,” he shrugged. 

Betty stared at him in shock. “Are you published?” Jughead said nothing and she moved over to stand in front of him. “Are you?” 

“Yes,” he spoke softly, holding her gaze.

“When? What have you published? Why is it a secret? How could you not tell me?”

“When was I supposed to tell you?” he said with a laugh. “I haven’t seen you in ten fucking years.”

“Jughead!” she snapped, her anger rising to the surface. “Being published is huge and why on earth would you keep it a secret? I mean, if anybody else knew, they would have told me.”

“I did it for myself,” he shrugged. “I didn’t care if anybody knew.”

“What have you published?”

“Just a mystery series.”

“Which one?”

“The Dark Water Killer Series,” Jughead said quietly and Betty couldn’t have been more shocked.

“Are you joking?” she gasped. “Jug, there are six books in that series already and they are best sellers! You’re J.J. Sweetwater?”

“Yes.”

“How the hell did I not put this together?” Betty asked with a confused shake of her head. “J.J. is clearly Jughead Jones and the name of the river near Riverdale.”

“Even the best detectives have off days,” he said with a rueful smile.

“Jughead I own all your books. I’ve read them multiple times. They’re amazing.”

“Thank you.”

Betty just stared at him and then she got irrationally angry. “You’re an asshole,” she snapped and he raised an eyebrow at her insult. She jumped at a sudden clap of thunder and turned and scrambled from the pool, suddenly not caring that her nudity was on full display. She grabbed her shorts and pulled them on angrily and glared at him as she yanked her tank top over her head.

“Dare I ask why I’m an asshole?” he asked as he also got out of the pool. He didn’t even bother grabbing his shorts, just stood glaring at her with his hands on his hips.

“How the hell could you keep something like this a secret?” she yelled, her eyes filling with tears. “All you ever wanted was to be a writer and you manage to make that dream come true and you sit on it without telling a soul is just fucking sad. All I ever wanted for you was that you achieve that dream and I would have been so so happy for you Jug, I _am_ so so happy for you and it hurts me that you didn’t at least attempt to let me know that you made your dreams come true.”

“Why the hell would I attempt to let you know?” he asked angrily. “It’s not like you told me anything about your life. You fucking left Betty, I didn’t owe you anything.”

“Jug,” she let out in a small, teary voice. “You’re a famous published author and nobody knows it. Do you know what online fandoms assume about you? That you’re some old recluse who refuses to tell the world who you are because it makes the books that much more mysterious.”

“Well, I guess I’m a young recluse,” he shrugged. 

“You should have told me,” Betty insisted.

“It was no longer your business.”

“It was a dream we both shared for you,” she yelled. “For as far back as I can remember, that’s what you wanted.”

“We didn’t share it, Betty,” he fumed. “You fucking left, remember? I didn’t owe you shit after that.” 

Betty stood with her hands clenched, wanting to slap some sense into him. He was an amazingly successful published author. How on earth did he think that wasn’t something she would have been thrilled to know? 

“After everything we went through and everything we shared, I think you should have told me. Just because I left, didn’t mean I stopped caring about you or your dreams.” 

“You should have never left,” he snapped back.

“Oh my God!” Betty yelled, running her hands through her hair in frustration. “Why do we keep having the same conversation?”

“What conversation?” Jughead asked furiously. “We’ve never had that fucking conversation.”

“You know why I left!” She would have stomped her foot if she thought it would get the message into his thick skull faster.

A fine rain started to fall and she realized that the storm had reached them in more ways than one.

“Because I wasn’t important enough to wait for.”

“Don’t you mean our dreams weren’t more important than your precious fucking Serpents?” she snapped back. The rain started falling harder and they stood facing off, the anger on both their faces looking much like the dark clouds starting to circle. She stepped back and then felt her stomach clench when she took note of his body. “Why the fuck are you aroused?” 

“Because the way your eyes spit green fire when you’re mad has always aroused me. Just because I haven’t seen it in almost a decade doesn’t mean that’s changed,” he shrugged, wiping the rain off his face.

“Well, put your damn clothes on,” she snapped and turned away, hurrying back to the cave and out of the rain.

“Fuck,” Jughead muttered, watching her leave. He was surprised that she’d only noticed his condition now when he’d been almost fully aroused from the moment she’d shed her clothes. God, she was so beautiful and her body, which had always been amazing now had slightly more curve to it and he just wanted to get his hands and mouth all over it.

He looked at the sky and sighed, knowing the storm was going to go at least the rest of the day before finally, hopefully blowing past. He grabbed his shorts and pulled them on before heading after her. When he had woken he’d gotten a few more things from the boat and put them in cave. A couple of sleeping bags to make the bed a little more comfortable and he figured if she didn’t want to be close to him again, she could just grab one of them.

He found Betty trying to start the fire, her hands shaking and he wasn’t sure if it was rain or tears on her face. His heart hurt with the possibility that it could be tears. He really hadn’t meant to hurt her but every time they started talking it ended up in a screaming match and he figured that maybe he should try to have a decent grown up conversation with her.

“Let me do that,” Jughead said softly, crouching down beside her and taking the lighter from her hand. “Change into something dry.”

She let it go and did as he asked before sitting back while he quickly got the fire going, filling the cave with warmth. They once again settled on opposite sides and stared at the flames in silence for a while. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the books,” he said quietly. 

Betty shrugged and pulled her knees up, wrapping her arms around her legs. “You were right, you didn’t owe me anything.”

“I still should have told you,” Jughead insisted. “You were always so proud of me when I wrote something that got recognition. I achieved my dreams and I hid it from everyone. I chose my pen name with the hopes that you’d never know it was me even though part of me thought you’d figure it out.”

“Truthfully, the reason I love the books so much is because there was something so familiar about them, as if I knew what the writer was thinking. I think I didn’t figure it out because I was so desperate to forget about you that I just didn’t pay attention to the small details, the familiarity,” Betty admitted quietly.

“Why were you desperate to forget me? Was the time we spent together such shit that you couldn’t stand the thought of me?”

“No!” Betty said quickly, shaking her head, her eyes filling with tears and spilling over. “That’s not it,” she insisted. “Some of the best years of my life were spent with you. I just- I just couldn’t…I couldn’t focus on anything after I left. All I wanted to do was run back home to you and it was holding me back and I just needed to move on. So I basically did a purge of all things Jughead,” she let out with a sad laugh. “I got rid of everything that reminded me of you and tried to start over.”

“How did that work out for you?” he asked, hating how pained his voice sounded.

“It mostly worked but not completely,” she shrugged, wiping her face. “There were still so many things that reminded me of you, you were like a ghost haunting me.”

“Yeah, I hear that…”

Betty leaned closer the fire and held out her hands. “You father told me that you were running from ghosts,” she mentioned. 

“Yeah, I guess he figured if he sent one my way it might scare me home.”

“Is that what you’ve been doing?” she asked. “Running around the world trying to forget about me?”

“Forgetting about you is impossible. I’d say it was more like trying to heal in places that didn’t have constant reminders of you.”

“Well, you settled here, you finally found a place?”

“Funny how that worked out, huh? I find some peace and here you come to fuck it all up. Now Costa Rica will always the place where we got stuck on a fucking island.” Jughead couldn’t keep the anger from his voice, his realization that it seemed he would never find peace from Betty Cooper. She was quiet for a long time and Jughead felt his heart clench when she wiped the tears off her face. 

“You really hate me, don’t you,” Betty whispered brokenly. 

He let out a long sigh and leaned back against the cave wall. “I don’t hate you,” he said quietly. “Hurt, angry; yes, but I don’t hate you.”

“You hurt me too,” Betty said, lifting her tear filled eyes to meet his. “Do you think it was easy for me to walk away? We had been fighting non stop for 3 months and I just….i was done. You broke your promise to me, you broke your promise to us.”

“I didn’t break my promise,” Jughead insisted. “I just wanted some time.”

“Jughead, we had spent three years dreaming and making plans to get out of Riverdale when we finally graduated. That town was a dead end and had so many horrible memories and reminders of all the shit that went down, we couldn’t wait until we could get out. Then you decided that you needed to fix the god damned Serpents first. They were suddenly more important than all the plans we had made!”

“They needed me….”

“They didn’t need you!” Betty yelled.

“We’re back to yelling?” he sighed.

“Yes, we’re back to yelling. You didn’t owe the Serpents anything! You almost gave your life for them and you wanted to put our life on hold for a damn year so you could play hero for them again.”

“Play hero? Is that was I was doing with them?” Jughead asked with a laugh. 

“I don’t know what the fuck you were doing Jughead, all I know is that you weren’t ready to start our life together.”

“I was ready to spend my entire life with you, all I wanted to do was spend the first year in Riverdale.”

“Well, that wasn’t an option for me,” Betty informed him.

“Yeah, it was your way or no way,” he laughed bitterly. “You didn’t even want to do long distance.”

“Because I knew that it would never fucking end! There would always be some problem with the Serpents or someone in trouble or whatever the hell always pulled you into trying to fix everything.”

Jughead wasn’t sure he could even argue against her point. It had always been in his nature to help and he just hadn’t been able to turn his back on the people that had sheltered him when he’d needed help.

“I just wanted to get on with life, Jug,” she said sadly. “I wanted you with me.”

“If you had just waited…”

“I was done waiting…I was done waiting and I was done fighting,” Betty said sadly. 

“It all ended eventually,” Jughead argued.

“Yes,” she laughed. “It didn’t even take a year and you ran from Riverdale, leaving everything behind, even your Serpents.”

“No, actually,” Jughead said quietly. He reached to the side and grabbed some wood and threw it on the fire, sending sparks shooting up to the cave roof. “It was all done only 3 months after you left.”

“What?” Betty asked in confusion. 

“Me and the Serpents,” he explained. “We got it all sorted and I came to New York to find you.”

“You did? I don’t understand. You couldn’t find me?” she asked, shaking her head, trying to figure out what he was talking about.

“Yeah, I found you.” He tried to keep the bitterness out of his voice but failed miserably. “May 17th. A warm Friday night. I was ready to lay my heart at your feet and beg you to take me back because I felt like I was dying without you. I came to your apartment.”

“Why didn’t you come to the door?”

“Well, I didn’t think you wanted to be interrupted.”

“Will you please make sense,” Betty sighed. “Why would you think that?”

“I don’t know,” Jughead laughed. “Maybe it was the guy you were kissing against your door. The guy you invited in after you were done with the kissing. The guy who didn’t leave for 3 hours…Yeah, I waited because apparently I like to torture myself.”

“Jug…” Betty breathed his name, her eyes filling with fresh tears and spilling down her cheeks.

“Yeah, he seemed pretty fucking pleased with himself when he left.”

“Please stop,” she whispered brokenly.

“Three months, Betty? It took you only three months to start fucking someone else?”

“Stop it!” she snapped furiously, wiping harshly at her face. “That’s not what happened.”

“No?” he asked with a mocking smirk. “Were you playing scrabble for three hours?”

“You know what? Fine. Yes, I had sex with him. The first person I’d ever been with besides you. I was tired of missing you and I was tired of thinking about you every fucking second of every day. So yeah, I said yes to a date with a guy I worked with and yes, I slept with him on the first date.”

“Wow, good for you,” Jughead said with a roll of his eyes.

“Whatever,” she fumed. “It’s not your business anyway.”

They were silent for long moments, the anger simmering between them and Betty decided they couldn’t go on like this. They couldn’t spend their lives being angry about their past. It was over and done with.

“We need to forgive each other,” she whispered after a while. 

“I’m not in a very forgiving mood today,” Jughead muttered, his eyes locked on the fire.

“I can’t spend the rest of my life thinking you hate me,” Betty said tearfully.

“I don’t hate you,” he sighed. “I could never hate you, that’s the problem.”

“Why is that the problem?” 

“Because if I hated you, I could forget about you,” Jughead said quietly.

“I see,” she whispered. “You want to forget about me. I thought we could maybe put this all behind us and be friends.”

“After ten years? Why do you suddenly want to be friends? You’ve had a decade to try and become friends.”

“Seriously?” Betty laughed. “Even if I had set out to do that, I didn’t even know what continent you were on most of the time. How the hell was I supposed to connect with you if I didn’t know where you were?”

“You could have asked my father.”

“Right,” she said flatly, letting out a frustrated sigh.

Jughead was quiet for a while, studying her to the point where it unnerved her. 

“What?”

“Why did you agree to come get me?” he asked curiously.

“You father basically begged me.”

“I don’t buy that.”

Betty sighed and closed her eyes for a second before meeting his gaze again. “Because it was you,” she admitted quietly. “He said you were in trouble and even though I pretended like I had no interest in helping, deep down I knew I would do it because it was you, Jug. Of course I was going to help.”

“Even after all this time and having not seen me in almost ten years?”

“Always, Jug.”

“I didn’t need to hear that,” Jughead almost growled.

“I…what?”

“It fucks with my head!” he snapped. 

Betty stared at him in surprise as he got up and left the cave. Where the hell he was going in the pouring rain was beyond her but it seemed he’d rather do that then spend another moment in the cave with her.

Okay, well maybe she shouldn’t have said that, how after so many years he was still so important to her. Her actions proved otherwise. He was right, she’d made zero effort since she left him to reconnect but he didn’t know how hard it had been for her. How hard it still was for her. He was always there, in her mind, even through her 2 relationships she’d had since him, one lasting a year and one lasting 3 years. He had always been in the back of her mind. The reason she had never been able to tell another man that she loved him. 

When Jughead didn’t return to the cave for a while, Betty got up and went to the entrance, looking around outside. Even though the rain poured she could still see the boat lying on the sand and saw him moving around on the bow. Whatever he’d found to do there in the rain, on a beached boat, she had no idea but it was clear he didn’t want to be near her.

Turning back inside as she wiped her face, she went to the pile of things he’d brought from the boat while she slept and went through them. There were a couple of sleeping bags and more food and water. A first aid kit and a small waterproof radio. Turning it brought only static and she put it aside again, rummaging around the food bag for something to eat. Giving up after finding only more protein bars that were ready to eat, Betty shoved the bag aside and let out a frustrated sigh.

“Dammit,” she muttered tearfully. Wiping angrily at her face, she took a deep breath and let it out several times to get a hold of herself before grabbing some wood and throwing it on the fire. She looked around again and her gaze fell on Jughead’s bag. Not caring if it was wrong, she just refused to sit in a damn cave all by herself and she wanted something to do, she grabbed it and opened it, feeling around until she felt one of the books she knew he had thrown in when packing and pulled it out.

Of course it was one of his. She still couldn’t believe he was a successful author and that she had all his books. Betty had read the one in her hand several times and she settled down on a blanket and opened it, the familiar words taking on an entire new meaning. She saw Jughead now in the writing and it still astonished her that she hadn’t seen it, but then again, she hadn’t been looking.

A couple of hours later, Jughead once again entered the cave and she quickly sat up, having lain down to get comfortable reading. She stared in surprise as he dropped two fish down next to the fire.

“You went fishing?”

“I figured you’d want something other than protein bars,” he shrugged, his gaze settling on the book in her hand, his brow furrowing. 

Betty flushed and averted her eyes. “I’m sorry, I was bored and alone and I knew you had books….” He raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t snoop, I swear, I just felt around until I found the book and pulled it out. It wasn’t fun being alone," she said pointedly.

“You hungry?” he asked, ignoring her statement. Betty wanted to throw the book at him but she didn’t want to hurt the book.

“Yes, I am,” she admitted. 

Jughead searched through some of the camping gear and pulled what looked to be some sort of metal contraption. He unfolded it and Betty saw that it was a stand of some sort that he was able to settle over the fire and then he was able to put a small lightweight frying pan on top of it out of the flames. It heated quickly and he had already gutted the fish and she watched as he cleaned them off with water before adding them to the pan. 

“I don’t suppose you have any salt or pepper,” he sighed, watching the fish start to sizzle. 

Betty’s mouth watered as the aroma filled the cave. “It won’t need anything. I’ve never had fish this fresh in my life. Another skill you acquired in Costa Rica?”

“Doesn’t take much skill to fish,” Jughead shrugged. “All it takes is patience. I have plenty of that.”

“Do you?” Betty asked. 

“When the situation warrants it.”

She wasn’t sure what they were talking about but something told Betty that he was trying to tell her that he was all out of patience when it came to her. Of course, she might be misreading it but the fact that he’d spent most of the day away from her out in the rain spoke in spades. 

They sat in silence while he cooked the fish and when it was ready, he handed her a plate and since she didn’t bother waiting for utensils, if there was any, she picked some up with her fingers and popped a piece in her mouth.

“God, that’s good,” she sighed, savoring the flaky bits as it all but melted on her tongue. She didn’t stop until her plate was empty and she had to work hard to not just licked the plate clean.

“Enjoy that?” Jughead asked with a smirk. Betty felt her face grow warm as she licked her fingers.

“Yes, thank you,” she grimaced. “I didn’t really pause for breath, did I?” 

Jughead just shrugged and finished off his fish in silence. 

“Jug?”

He looked at her.

“I’m really sorry.”

“About what?”

“Everything,” she sighed.

“If you could go back, would you still leave?” he asked quietly and she realized he was never going to let it go and she’d be damned before she’d be the one taking all the blame.

“Yes.”

“Yeah…”

Betty wanted to cry again. It was clear his hurt was deep and he’d never gotten over it. She wanted more than anything to make it all go away. She knew they had loved each other deeply; she still felt the pain too and she would always love him but they needed to get past this.

“I’ll be back in a bit,” Jughead said and then left the cave.

“Where the hell are you going?” she yelled after him angrily. Obviously she wasn’t going to get an answer and she was tired from a day of doing nothing all by herself so she got up and cleaned up the plates and grabbed the sleeping bags. She wasn’t sure what to do, zip them together or leave them single. She knew it would be warmer if they shared body heat and so despite his obvious aversion to her, she zipped them together and lay them close to the fire. She used one of the blankets to make a pillow for them and put the other two across the fire. She figured if he really didn’t want to sleep next to her, he could use the blankets.

Betty grabbed his book again and climbed into the sleeping bags and turned so the fire could light up her pages as she read. It didn’t take her long and she drifted off to sleep.

It was the middle of the night when Betty woke again and she noticed immediately that Jughead had not chosen the blankets to sleep. He was inside the sleeping bags with her, his arms holding her close. The fire was burning low but still threw a bit of light around and she held her breath as she slowly turned so they were face to face. 

The shadows played over his face and she noted again how ruggedly handsome he was. Her mind went to the pool earlier in the day, the way his body had glistened in the water, its aroused state when they’d climbed out. A shiver went through her as the old memories swirled in her brain. How his mouth felt on her skin, his hands sliding along her curves, his body pressing into hers. She wondered what it would feel like to be with him again, the hard man lying next to her instead of the boy she’d left behind.

Betty just wanted to forget the world for a while. She wanted to pretend that life hadn’t ripped them apart. She wanted to wrap herself all around him.

She just wanted.

Lifting her hand to slowly trace her finger along Jughead’s jawline, the stubble tickling her fingertip and she wondered what it would feel like brushing against her thighs. Her gaze wandered down to his chest, the subtle muscle, the smooth skin. Betty let out a slow frustrated breath and was about to turn back around before she felt him up further when his grip on her waist tightened, holding her in place. Her eyes flew up to his face and she found him watching her, his eyes dark and serious in the glow of the fire.

She held her breath as his eyes dropped to her mouth and lingered there for a moment before returning to hers. Neither of them moved and he rolled to his back, his arm still around her and pulling Betty into his side, her head settling on his shoulder. His eyes closed but she knew he wasn’t even close to sleeping and he smelled good, like the sun and sea and she really couldn’t help herself as she shifted and pressed her lips to his skin below his jawline.

Jughead went completely still, not that he was moving, but it seemed like he even stopped breathing and Betty didn’t know if he was about to push her away or pull her closer so she did it again. His hold on her tightened and with the knowledge that he wasn't going to throw her out of the cave, she shifted and lifted her head, pressing her lips to the corner of his mouth, needing to taste him. 

The ache that went through her almost made her groan but she was scared to even make a sound for fear he would push her away. When his hands suddenly came up and framed her face, lifting her head so he could look at her, Betty bit her lip, holding her breath as she stared down at him. 

“Jug?” she whimpered, unable to keep the need out of her voice and then his mouth was covering hers in a deep hungry kiss.

It was everything.

The familiar feel and taste of him, yet so different all at the same time. She wanted and needed more, moaning into his mouth as she shifted her body over his, gasping when she felt his arousal press against her. Betty realized his need matched her own and she pressed against him as her mouth opened for his tongue. 

Whatever anger or unforgiveness lingered between them, it was momentarily forgotten as they devoured each other. His mouth was warm and wet, his tongue sliding along hers as his hands slid down her sides and over her backside, pressing her against him. Betty felt like her body was on fire, sliding along his, pressing against his and she was suddenly desperate to feel his skin against hers. 

She pulled away from his kiss and sat up, her body straddling his and the heat she saw in his eyes made her clench her thighs against his sides as she pulled her shirt over her head and tossed it aside. It may have landed in the fire but she didn’t care at the moment as he let out a harsh breath, his eyes dropping to her full chest encased in a flimsy bra that she reached back and unhooked, letting it fall to the side. Betty leaned down and kissed him again and he groaned when her breasts pressed against his chest.

She tried not the think about how bad an idea it was, tried not to remember that he was angry with her, Betty tried not to think at all except for what his hands were doing as they slid over her skin and came around her front, moving to cup her breast, his thumb sliding over her nipple. God she had missed him, his kiss, his touch. Nobody could bring her body to life the way he did with just a simple touch. She moved against him again, her core pressing to his hardness and she’d never wanted anything so much in her entire life the way she wanted to feel him inside her.

Betty pulled away from his kiss, needing to breathe and rested her forehead against his as their bodies pressed against each other. The ache between her legs was almost unbearable and when he bucked up against her, she gasped and lifted her head, staring down at him as he did it again. Jughead held her gaze as he lifted his head and ran his tongue over her nipple as it hovered above him, puckered and tight. Arching her back to press closer to his mouth, her eyes closed in ecstasy when he eagerly sucked her into his mouth. When his hands moved down and his fingers teased along the waist band of her shorts, Betty let out a low moan.

“Jug, please…” she whimpered, unable to keep quiet any longer. His fingers fumbled as he hurriedly tried to open her shorts before giving up and just shoving them down over her hips. They got stuck for a moment but he gave a quick tug and then they were gone. When his hand brushed between her legs, Betty was almost embarrassed at how wet she was, her underwear soaked through but she couldn’t bring herself to care.

“Fuck,” he breathed against her mouth when his hand reached into her panties, his fingers finding her hot and slick with arousal. When they easily slid inside her, Betty ground against them, trying to get them deeper but it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough like this. 

She reached down, pushing his shorts down his hips, his arousal springing free as he had on no underwear and she stared at it, her mouth watering at the hunger she felt. God, he was beautiful. 

Jughead sucked in a shaky breath when she wrapped her hand around him. He was bigger than she remembered but to have him in her hand again was a feeling she couldn’t describe. All she could think was that it felt right. Releasing him, Betty leaned down and kissed him again, sliding her core along his length and he groaned into her mouth, moving with her as they slid back and forth. He grabbed her hips and held her still, his arousal pressed against her entrance and moved away from her mouth to look at her. She quickly nodded her head and then let it drop with a gasp as he slid inside her. The shudder that went through him aroused her even more and she clenched around him, wrenching groan from him as he stayed still, buried to the hilt. 

“Fuck,” he muttered again. “You’re so tight.” 

“I…it’s..it’s been a while,” she whimpered, wiggling against him, needing him to move. Betty lifted her hips and then slowly slid down again. He moved then, holding her hips and thrusting up into her, his body already coiled with tension that needed releasing. She balanced on her hands on either side of his head and bent down to kiss him against as they moved together. There wasn’t any need for any more words as they took from each other, the only noise the slick sounds of their bodies coming together and their soft moans and gasps into each other’s mouths.

It didn’t take long and Betty knew he was getting close, his body tensed and his hands gripping tightly. She could feel the pleasure taking over her body, consuming her and the need to release became almost maddening. Jughead sensed her desperation snaked his hand between them, his fingers sliding into her folds to find her swollen slick nub that was begging for attention. It took only a few strokes of his finger and she clenched hard around him as her body seemed to splinter apart, her orgasm rushing through her like streams of lava, setting every nerve on fire. She was only slightly aware in her orgasmic haze that he thrust hard and then groaned as his body shuddered to completion, pouring himself into her, his hands gripping her backside, holding her to him as he pulsed and shook with pleasure.

They stayed like that, pressed together, gasping against each other’s neck, trying to come to their senses as reality slowly washed over them. Betty moved slightly and he quickly stilled her, the drag of her flesh against his too much for the moment.

“Shit,” he muttered against her hair, his breathing harsh and uneven and she knew instantly that he regretted it. Her eyes filled with tears and she stayed where she was, hoping he didn’t notice as she tried desperately to get control of her emotions. 

What a mess they had just made. Literally and figuratively. 

Betty had no idea what the following day would bring, but for now, in the tiny cave hidden away from the world, she was going to pretend that everything was alright.


	5. Occupied

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I know, i know....i'm the worst...im soooo slow with this fic but i finally managed to press one out...sorry if it seems rushed (weird to say when it took so long) but writing for me is so incredibly hard this year and i'm fighting to get my mojo back.....hope you enjoy!!

The first thing Jughead noticed when he woke was that Betty wasn’t beside him. The second and third was the light and the silence. It had stopped raining. He opened his eyes and squinted at the sunshine that flooded the small shelter and noticed that Betty had left the cave.

He got up quickly, pulled on some shorts and left the cave, his eyes scanning the beach. Betty was sitting on the sand, knees pulled up, arms wrapped around her legs and staring out over the water. Jughead took a deep breath and walked over, sitting next to her and rested his forearms on his knees. They sat in silence watching the water dance along the shoreline. The sky was a perfect and pristine blue and there wasn’t a cloud in sight. The storm was over.

“You okay?” he asked softly, the quiet a little too much after a while. Betty shrugged and he felt his heart twist at the sadness on her face. “Betty, listen….about last night…”

“It’s fine,” she said, her voice quiet and choked. “I know you regret it….”

“No, Betts, that’s not….” Jughead let out a frustrated sigh. “I don’t regret what we did, I regret that we did it while we were so angry with each other.”

“Okay…” the word came out shaky and he saw her eyes well with tears and he moved on the sand until he was behind her and gently pulled her between his knees, his arms around her as she settled against his chest. Betty didn’t fight it and sank into his embrace, resting her face against his arm, her tears wetting his skin.

“Don’t cry,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to her ear. “Please.” She only nodded and he hugged her tighter. “You know,” Jughead continued, his voice lightly teasing. “One thing I’ll never in my life regret is being able to touch you, no matter how long we’ve been apart, no matter why we’re apart, no matter how pissed off we are at each other. In fact, I change my mind, I think angry sex is the best and we should keep doing it.”

Betty let out a laugh and lifted her head, wiping at her face. “You’re an idiot,” she muttered and he grinned against her ear. 

“Is that a _no_?” he asked as he kissed the soft spot by her ear, his voice husky and soft. He felt her shiver and smiled as he did it again.

“Well, last night I clearly lacked self control,” Betty said with a roll of her eyes. “I don’t regret it either but it wasn’t exactly a smart thing to do and to keep doing it is just borrowing trouble,” she reasoned. “We’re fighting, remember?”

“Well,” Jughead said slowly, his hands smoothing down her arms and his fingers entwining with hers. “We could call a truce until we’re rescued. We’re on a beautiful island, probably not much longer, why waste the opportunity. It will be back to reality soon enough.” Betty turned and looked at him and his heart raced a little at the beautiful green of her eyes. Even after all these years, she continued to bewitch him. 

“You’re suggesting we just forget we’re not together and we’re fighting and we just fuck until we’re rescued?”

Jughead laughed a little at her disgruntled tone, even as her eyes seemed fixated on his mouth. “Well, not quite that specific but we could just get along while we’re here and if you want another roll in the blankets, I won’t say no.” His mouth twitched with a teasing smile and she rolled her eyes again.

“I never know when you’re being serious,” she sighed, turning back around and leaning against him. 

Jughead wondered if she realized how tightly she was clinging to his hand. She was right, it was probably a bad idea to just pretend everything was fine, but for the short time they had together before the world once again invaded their lives, he didn’t want to fight. He just wanted to be with her in any way that he could, whether it was rolling in the blankets or just sitting here and holding her on the sand, he wanted something to keep in his heart if they parted ways for another decade. He needed a memory that made him smile, a memory that didn’t hurt. 

“Do you think someone will come soon?” she asked.

“It’s hard to say. It all depends what’s all gone down during the storm and how much damage there is and if there’s anyone else in trouble. Now that it stopped pouring rain I can maybe figure out what went wrong with the boat or get the radio working.”

“Do you need some help? I don’t know much about boats but maybe another pair of eyes could find the problem quicker.”

“Sure, why not,” he shrugged. “If I can get the electronics working, the radio will work. It was kind of hard trying to find the problem with rain pouring down.”

Jughead moved back and got to his feet, holding out his hand for her to help her up. He didn’t let go once she was standing and they walked down to where the boat lay on the sand. 

“So, where do we start?” she asked as they climbed aboard the craft. It was a little difficult with the heavy slant but she managed to get her balance. 

“I’ll lift the latch here and we can have a look around at all the mechanics. Something down there isn’t right because the boat went completely dead. Like, nothing works and that doesn’t make any sense.” 

Betty nodded and waited as he lifted the hatch door and peered down when he tossed it aside. There was enough room for them both to get in there and have a look around and after helping her down, he lowered himself in beside her and started playing around with connections and equipment.

“So, what am I looking for?” she asked.

“Anything that doesn’t look right.”

Betty looked at him and laughed. “Nothing looks right.”

Jughead smiled and nodded in understanding. “Well, just think back to the days when you’d work on engines with your dad or when you worked on Archie’s piece of shit car. Or when you fixed up my car for me before that Ghouli race. I know it’s not like a car but _you’ll know it when you see it_ type of thing.”

“Literally all things I’d rather not think about,” she grumbled and he let out a humorless laugh. 

“I know, I know,” he sighed. “But you know what I mean.”

They both started looking around and playing with things and switches without much luck. “You still work on cars?” he asked after a while as he reached back behind something to play with whatever wires were back there. 

Betty held back a laugh as he squished himself up against all the buttons and suddenly had a mad urge to kiss his mouth until she couldn’t breathe. “Not really. I live down town Manhattan and don’t have a car so I don’t really get the chance to play with any.”

“Wow, that’s quite the address. You rich, money bags?” he teased.

“Well, not as rich as you, but I do alright,” she shrugged. “Some of my work has been published in teaching textbooks and research magazines.”

“I know.”

Betty paused and looked at him. “How could you possibly know that?”

“I followed your career. I searched you name? Almost everything a person does nowadays is out there for people to find.”

She glared at him and he smirked.

“See, this is why I’m so pissed off that you never bothered to mention you were published. You know everything I’ve been up to for the last decade and all I know about you is that you were globetrotting for most of it.”

“Well, how did you know that I was _globetrotting_,” he asked with a laugh at her reference.

“I asked people!” she snapped.

He leaned against the engine and grinned at her. “Why? Miss me?”

“Oh my god, you’re an ass,” she sighed and turned around to ignore him. She jumped when his arm slipped around her and he pulled her back against him. 

“And yet you still climbed on top of me last night,” he murmured against her ear, his breath fanning across her cheek. 

Betty all but melted against him, her fingers digging into his arm. Well, she couldn’t argue with him there. After a moment she let out a sigh and slowly turned. His arm stayed where it was, wrapped around her and she was plastered against his chest. His very warm, very fit and very naked chest. She decided to play his game. Her arms came up slowly and wrapped around his neck as she pressed against him not missing the slight intake of breath on his part. 

“Yes, I did,” she murmured, leaning in and grazing his jawline with her mouth, purposely brushing her body against his. “And it was extremely satisfying.” Betty felt him shudder and became emboldened, moving her hand down his front and brushing over the front of his shorts. 

Jughead’s hand came up and he gripped her chin, forcing her to look at him, the storm in his eyes almost more ferocious than the one that had just passed.

“I haven’t been with anyone in quite some time, Betty,” he growled, a clear warning in his voice. “Last night was like a tiny appetizer as far as my body is concerned and unless you’re wanting to be a very willing participant in the main course, I suggest you stick to more subtle teasing because I can spend the entire day eating.”

“Well, shit,” she gasped, her entire body clenching. “Why did you have to put it that way?”

Jughead’s eyes settled on her mouth and he did nothing to hide the raw desire in them. “Sorry,” he murmured. “I’m hungry.”

“Jug,” Betty breathed out before grabbing his face and pressing her mouth to his. It wasn’t an ideal place to go at it, as Jughead buried his fingers in her hair, gripping it as he crowded her against the electric panel, the knobs and switches pressing into her back, but she couldn’t bring herself to care as his tongue slipped between her lips. The angle of the boat didn’t help either and they kept slipping as they all but devoured each others mouth. She moaned when he bit at her bottom lip before sucking on it to soothe the sting. His tongue tangling with hers. 

“Shit,” he growled when he slipped again, driving his body against hers causing her to whimper in pain as a switch dug into her back. He pulled back, his breathing heavy and moved his hands to her waist, steading her and smirking at her dazed look and the way she tried to get back to his mouth. Jughead lifted his hands and framed her face, forcing her to stay still and she held his gaze, her breathing heavy. He leaned in and kissed her gently. Calmly, unlike their frantic exchange only moments earlier. Betty seemed to sag against him and her arms wrapped tightly around his neck as she returned his kiss. He didn’t know what was happening between them and he knew they should fix everything before engaging in whatever it was that they were doing but he couldn’t bring himself to care as she pressed against him. He hadn’t had her in his arms in so long and if felt too damn good to let go. 

A long while later, Jughead slowly pulled away and rested his forehead on hers, trying to catch his breath along with her. “Later,” he whispered, a promise of things to come if she wanted it and he smiled at her eager nod. She pulled back and let out a breath, wiping her hand over her flushed face.

“Okay, enough of the distractions,” she chided jokingly, her voice nervous and breathless and he winked as he turned and got back to his perusing of the electronics.

Betty did her best to calm her racing heart and started looking around with him. She was so flustered she had no idea what she was looking for and kept peeking at him and devouring him with her eyes and wondered how someone could turn into such a beautiful man. She saw his smirk appear the more she stared and she rolled her eyes at herself and focused on the job at hand. She crouched down and looked around at different things when she noticed something that seemed out of place. Granted, she had no idea what anything really was besides the circuit board and engine, but this, connected to the main circuit system by one wire and tucked in a small space at the bottom, didn’t seem like it belonged.

“What about this, Jug?” she asked as she knelt. He crouched down beside her and looked where she was pointing and frowned when he saw it. Grabbing it and studying it for a moment, Jughead seemed as puzzled as she was but then his eyes narrowed.

“Is this a fucking joke?” he muttered, turning it over and opening the back. Betty had no idea what it was but he seemed to.

“What is it?”

“I think it’s a timer switch,” he replied. “Connected to the main braker. See here?” he asked, pointing to a digital display inside the wires. “That’s a time monitor. It’s connected to the braker and at whatever time it’s programmed in, it would flip the switch and would kill the circuit board, effectively killing the engine.”

“You think someone meant for us to lose power?” Betty gasped. “Is it possible to just turn it back on? If it killed the circuit board, isn’t there a switch that you can just turn back on on that?”

“No, it’s been wired in,” Jughead explained, pointing to where it was attacked to the board. “You can see the small burn mark here?” She nodded. “It burned the wire, some kind of charge I guess. It wouldn’t affect the switches. I’ll have to rewire it here to get it going again.”

“You can do that?” 

“I’ve been on my own for a while and sometimes I’ve ended up in really strange places where I’ve had to fend for myself. I had to learn to fix shit if I wanted things to work.”

“You’re really going to have to tell me all about your adventures one day,” she laughed. 

“Well, how about I rewire this first and then see if that radio will work.”

“Will everything just suddenly start when you wire it?” 

“No, I made sure everything was turned completely off. Only way we’ll know if she works is if I go on deck and try to start her up. I won’t do that since we’re beached but the radio should work when I’m done.”

“Okay,” Betty said, straightening and brushing her hands over her knees to clean them of the sand that stuck to them. “Can I do anything to help?”

“Down here no, but if you climb out and hand me the tool box, I’ll get started stripping this wire and redoing it. The tool box is in the bench by the cabin door.”

Betty nodded and climbed out of the latch and found what he needed and handed it down. She sat and watched him work, once again marveling how different he was from the boy she had known and loved. While back then he had definitely come into his own and found a strength in himself to lead a gang out of the trenches and into the real world, this man in front of her seemed to have no fear or insecurity about anything. He could get himself out of any situation it seemed and really did know how to survive no matter what was thrown at him. A man who wouldn’t be manipulated in any way and Betty had a feeling that FP Jones was going to be facing a shit storm he didn’t see coming when Jughead returned to New York. His days of trying to control his son were over.

It didn’t take him long at all and he had the wire properly fixed and connected. Jughead pulled himself out of the latch and sat next to her, wiping his hands on his shorts. 

“How do we know it’s fixed?” she asked.

“I got some lights that came on when the wire connected. If the radio works, then we’re in business.” He got up and helped her to her feet and gingerly made his way across the slanted deck to the radio, reaching out and flicking the power switch. The static that suddenly permeated the silence was like music to their ears. Jughead grabbed the transmitter and turned the knob to the proper channel and immediately heard communication. 

“Anyone needing help, please respond…”

“Carlos?” Jughead pressed the button and spoke.

“Shit, Jughead! Is that you?”

“Yeah, yes, finally got my radio working.”

“We got your S.O.S. as soon as you sent it but this storm did some bad damage here. The boat got trashed and I think it’s about fixed but we haven’t been able to get to anyone. We now have contact with everyone we know is in trouble and we have no fatalities, thank God, but we’re trying to prioritize who needs our help sooner rather than later. You guys doing alright?”

“Yeah. I don’t really know what happened. We would have missed the storm but our boat went dead and now we found that somebody fucked with it. We would have beaten the storm,” Jughead informed him. 

“Well, when your S.O.S. came through, I asked the guy who was supposed to be transporting you guys on that boat why he wasn’t with you and he told me that your father told him to make sure you guys went alone,” Carlos said slowly.

Betty looked in confusion at Jughead and saw the anger cloud his face.

“I’m not fucking surprised,” he said furiously. 

“Jug, what….” Betty began. He took her hand and squeezed and she waited until he was finished.

“You guys are alright? Do you need immediate help?”

“We’re alright,” Jughead sighed. “We aren’t a priority.”

“We have some distress calls that are getting dire and we need to get to them once this boat is running. The storm is right over the airfield you were heading to so nobody there is able to get out either. “You guys can hang tight until tomorrow morning?” Carlos asked. 

“Yeah,” Jughead replied. “I’m sure we’ll find something to keep us occupied,” he added with a smirk her way. Betty flushed red, and he grinned.

“You’re so annoying,” she whispered in a huff.

“Alright,” the man on the other end said. “You guys hang tight and if things change, make sure you radio. We’ll be there in the morning.”

“Thanks Carlos,” Jughead replied before turning the radio off. 

“Jug?”

“Yeah?”

“Did you father sabotage our boat?”

“It appears that way,” Jughead said, his anger evident on his face.

“But why?” she gasped.

“Because he’s a manipulative asshole.”

“Explain.”

“Literally all I’ve heard for the last decade is questions about why we broke up and what we should do to fix it and how I should look you up and talk to you. He didn’t like how we ended things and still has hope that we’ll live happily ever after. The second you showed up in my cell I knew why he sent you.”

“Well, if you knew what he was doing, why did you agree to come back with me?” Betty asked.

Jughead sighed and walked to the edge of the boat and jumped off. He offered his hand and helped her down and they headed toward the cave. 

“I’m not going to lie, Betts,” he said quietly. “My father knew exactly what he was doing and regardless of the fact that I know what he’s trying to do, I wasn’t going to pass up the chance to spend time with you, so yes, I decided to go back with you for that reason. And to tell him off once and for all.”

“I can’t believe he would sabotage our boat,” she said angrily. “We could have died!”

“Yeah well, I’m sure in his well thought out idiotic plan, he just figured we’d bob around on the water for a while and have nothing to do but talk to each other and somehow magically fix all our past mistakes. It didn’t dawn on him that it was the damn ocean and the weather may not cooperate.”

“I still can’t believe it. Maybe it wasn’t…”

“No, it was,” Jughead interrupted. “As soon as i realized the boat captain had ditched us I knew my father put him up to it and when I saw the sabotage, well, I knew he did it.”

“Now what?” Betty asked when they reached the cave. “We’re stuck here until tomorrow. Maybe we could walk off our frustration by exploring.”

“Well, there isn’t much to see but what there is to see is quite pretty. Grab a couple bottles of water and I can show you around.”

Betty ran into the cave and grabbed two of the bottles from the bag that Jughead had brought from the boat and put them into a smaller back pack with a few protein bars and a small first aid kit. It never hurt to be prepared. Jughead found himself a shirt and took the bag from her and put it on his own back and grabbed her hand with a smile. She gave his a squeeze and he headed down the beach a little and then turned toward the tree line at what seemed to be a trail.

“Do people come here a lot?” she asked when she noted how it appeared well worn.

“Well, interestingly enough,” he chuckled. “This is where people like to come on weekend dates. It’s kind of like a couple’s getaway.”

“Well, that’s a little bit hilarious,” Betty laughed. “And here we get stranded on it. Let me guess, because of the wonderful natural pool?”

“Yes, if they can make it here after the rain. The pool will stand at least a week before it’s all dried out again so people take advantage.”

The headed through the trees and Betty immediately noticed how much hotter it was in the thick of the greenery. It didn’t take long before Jughead was handing her a bottle of water which she gratefully accepted.

“These jungles are hot, no matter how small,” she noted. He nodded and pushed through some foliage and they came to a small clearing, the ground covered in moss and the trees like a canopy over the area.

“This is where people camp when they come here. It’s nicely protected from any storm that may come. Of course if it rains you’d still need a tent but I don’t think anyone ever stays in the cave we’re in,” he explained. 

Betty smiled and looked around; it really was a beautiful secluded little haven that provided privacy and protection for anyone camping there. “Do I hear water?” she asked suddenly.

“You mean besides the waves crashing against the island from all sides?” he teased.

“Yes, besides that,” she said with a roll of her eyes.

“Well, yes, you actually do. Right through here.” Jughead led her through the trees again and they came up on a small narrow stream and she crouched down and held her hands in the water.

“Is this fresh?”

“Sadly, no. It’s the ocean water that flows into the island on the north side and follows it through to the south where it simply flows back into the ocean. I’m guessing maybe at some point an earthquake may have made a small crevice that filled and formed the stream,” he explained. “While this place is beautiful, the only source of fresh water is the natural pool and if it hasn’t rained, you aren’t hydrating unless you bring the water.” Jughead took her hand again and walked with her along the stream and it didn’t take them long at all to come to the end of it on another section of the beach.

“Can we follow the beach all the way around until we get back to the cave? I’m assuming there isn’t much else to see in the wooded area?”

“You’re right,” Jughead explained. “It’s honestly not that big at all, just a nice small island that you can visit and camp at for a weekend if you’re so inclined. Some pretty jungle and a lot of sand. We can walk around it if you want, will take maybe half hour. There is something on the east side that I want you to see.”

“Okay,” Betty said eagerly and they headed down the beach. 

“So…” she spoke slowly after a little silence. “Tell me about your travels?”

“Well, I’ve been to a lot of places,” he said softly.

“What was your favorite?”

“Probably Singapore.”

“Why Singapore?” Betty asked curiously. 

“It’s fascinating,” Jughead explained. “It’s this small city island nation and what a lot of people don’t know is that it actually consists of something like 64 offshore smaller islands that surround it. Its incredibly beautiful and has more gardens and greenery then you can imagine. It may be a city of sky scrapers but it’s almost like they’ve turned it into a garden city. There is actually a four storey cascading vertical garden that I spent hours of time in. Sitting and writing there was one of the most peaceful things I’ve experienced.”

“Wow, I’ll have to go visit one day,” Betty smiled. She glanced at him and his relaxed happy expression made her heart race. It was clear that he had loved it there.

“They have all these little out of the way neighborhoods that are just fascinating to explore. I think you would love that more. Lots of interesting things to discover. And waterfalls, there are man made waterfalls everywhere.”

“I find it interesting that it’s a city that has you most fascinated,” Betty observed. “Out here in the nature is where you seem to thrive.”

“Oh it is, believe me, and Singapore is the only place I visited that was city everywhere but how they brought nature in was amazing. If I had to live in a city, that’s the one I’d choose.”

“So, what would be your favorite non city place, besides here obviously where you’ve decided to settle for a while,” she asked.

“Probably Tuscany. It’s quiet and slow, kind of like here. The history and beauty of the place is amazing.”

Betty scanned the water as they walked, taking in the beauty of the place, the tiny island they were stuck on and it suddenly dawned on her how small and tiny they were in the grand scheme of things. Just two seemingly lost souls on a small islanded surrounded by water with nowhere to go. It emboldened her. She took his hand again and squeezed, almost leaning into him as they walked. 

“What made you settle here and do you plan on coming back here after New York?” she asked. Part of her hoped he would say no, that he was going to stay in New York so he would be near her and maybe they could work everything out and start over in some way.

“It’s great here. Quiet, slow, nobody bothers me. Everyone in that little village is friendly and kind. It’s just a really simple life and makes for a great writing atmosphere.”

“You’ll come back.”

“Yeah.”

There was silence for a while longer and when they walked around a particular pile of rocks, Betty let out a gasp. At the edge of the trees were flowers of various colors growing everywhere. 

“Oh my gosh,” she exclaimed. Jughead smiled as she hurried over to have a closer look. “Orchids!”

“Yeah, they’re beautiful,” he said softly as he walked over and leaned down to pluck one from the stem. He tucked it behind her ear and she touched it gently, her breath catching when he brushed a stray hair off her cheek. When his thumb brushed over her lip she let out a shaky sigh. She wanted to throw herself at him and at the same time realized she needed to learn some restraint. Yes it had been ten years and she had missed him terribly, but it wasn’t going to help matters to get entangled with him all over again if they were just going to part ways. Betty stepped back and he smiled, taking her hand again and they kept walking after she picked a hand full of flowers to smell along the way.

“Is it always this hot?” she asked, fanning her face.

“Well….yeah,” he laughed. “You get used to it and they have really good air conditioners around here.”

“I don’t know how you survived in that cramped little room you were in,” she noted. “If you come back, at least find something bigger.”

“Will do,” he agreed and she wanted to sigh. He was definitely not going to stay in New York.

They arrived back on their ship wrecked beach and he pointed ahead. “If we keep going, it will take about 2 minutes until we reach the area where we came out of the trees and you’ll have made a full circle.”

“I think I’m good,” she laughed. “It really is a small island. What’s up on the rocks?” she asked, pointing to the top of the cave.

“Nothing but a view but it’s hard to get up there.”

“You’ve done it?”

“Yes and sweat more than I wanted to.”

“Well, I’m sticky now and a dip would be amazing,” Betty sighed, putting down the flowers. She kicked off her shoes and walked over to the pool and waded right in, not bothering to take off her clothes. “Oh my God this feels good,” she groaned as the cool water washed over her flushed skin. 

Jughead laughed and walked over. He did manage to pull his shirt off before he got into the water and Betty suddenly felt hot all over again. He dunked himself and pushed his hair off his forehead and she couldn’t look away. She followed a drop of water as it ran down his neck and chest until it disappeared in the water at his waist and she decided she was jealous of the water drop. He was watching her and the invitation was clear in his eyes and she wondered what she was worried about. Was it a bad idea? Probably, but they were on a lovely little island, the world seemed to stand still and in a few days they would probably part ways again so really, what was the big deal? She would miss him regardless if she jumped his bones or not and if she was going to be thinking about him day and night, why not make the memories amazing. Wading over to him, she grabbed her shirt and lifted it over her head and tossed it aside.

“Shit,” he breathed, his eyes falling to her chest.

“You told Carlos we’d find something to keep us occupied,” she murmured, moving closer and brushing against him. His arms moved around her waist and pulled her close, her breasts pressed against his hard chest and she let out a small moan, her own arms coming up around his neck.

“Tell me this is a bad idea,” he murmured against her jaw, his mouth moving over her skin and leaving patches of heat. 

Was he crazy? She wondered. Of course it was a bad idea but she certainly wasn’t going to tell him that. Instead she turned her head and pressed her mouth to his wandering lips. They sank down into the water, mouths fused together, locked in a hungry kiss. Betty moved her arms and sank her fingers into his hair, gripping it and pressing closer, her legs coming up around his waist, feeling him hard and heavy against her.

“God, I wanted to do this the very first day when you were showering in the jail cell,” she blurted out when his mouth moved down her neck. He laughed softly against her skin and bit lightly, nudging against her.

“I know,” he breathed and she hated how he affected her. How he knew that he affected her right from the start. 

“I want to hate you,” she whimpered when his mouth moved over her chest.

“I know that too.” 

Betty couldn’t bare the ache in her core and pressed against him, desperate to get closer but he seemed content to tease her, just letting his mouth flutter over her skin against the swell of her breasts. Gripping his hair, she pulled his head back and stared down into his dark eyes. They burned with desire and she shuddered with need before kissing him again. It was wet and dirty, their tongues sliding against each other as he moved in the water until he had her pressed against some rocks. It wasn’t comfortable but she was beyond caring. She just wanted him, it didn’t matter how.

When his hand moved down her body and moved along her leg, she wiggled closer, rubbing against him and she realized she may be coming off desperate and let’s face it, horny but she couldn’t seem to form any rational thought as he explored her skin. The previous night had been quick and just as desperate but now he seemed to want to touch every inch of her as he moved from one leg to the next, trying to balance her and kiss her and feel her at the same time. 

When he suddenly pulled away from her, Betty let out a disappointed groan but when she realized he was taking off his shorts, she hurriedly did the same and then she was back in his arms and the feel of him completely naked did her in.

“Oh my god, Jug, please,” she begged, knowing she was already embarrassingly wet. He lifted her again, his tongue raking over her nipple and she gasped, pressing closer. When he brushed against her, she tightened her legs him.

“Damn,” he growled against her skin when he felt her slick heat. “I really wanted to go slow this time.”

“Later,” Betty insisted, urging him closer. Jughead took her mouth in a hungry kiss and sank inside her. “God, yes,” she moaned, the feel of him stretching her making her entire body clench and throb. There wasn’t anything pretty or romantic about it and maybe later she would wince at the memory, or burn up in flames but all she cared about as he fucked her against the rocks was how he felt, how he held her and took her and kissed her. How he pushed so deep inside her, she wondered if she’d ever move on from this.

“Fuck, Betty,” he groaned, his hands gripping her hips, his breath coming in gasps. “I hope you’re close because there is no holding this back.”

“Yes, yes, just don’t stop,” she begged, her head falling back, fingers clawing at his skin. She reached down and stroked herself as he thrust hard and deep, over and over and it crashed through her an instant later and he groaned against her skin when he felt her pull on him, sending him over the edge as he he shuddered against her. Betty clung to him, her body clenched so tight around him, the pleasure seeming never ending. Years of longing burning through her, wringing everything from her as they released together. 

“Are you okay?” he asked softly after he managed to calm his breathing and his body stopping shuddering. He eased her away from the rocks and she winced, finally realizing how they had been digging into her back and he soothed his hands over the skin. She bit her lip and lay her head on his shoulder, realizing it was the same Jughead she had fallen in love with all those years ago. Making sure she was alright, trying to ease the pain he figured she felt from the pinching rocks.

“I’m okay,” she whispered, holding on to him, almost afraid to look at him for some reason which was ridiculous since he was still inside her. He gave her a few moments before he gently eased her back, searching her face and she managed a shaky smile.

“Sure?”

“Yes,” Betty nodded. “Just a little overwhelmed.”

“Yeah, I’m still a pretty good lay, I guess,” he shrugged. 

Betty started to giggle and smacked his shoulder before laying her head on it again. “Thanks,” she whispered, knowing he was trying to make her feel less frazzled.

“How about we wash up and have something to eat. I could catch another fish if you want.”

Betty’s stomach grumbled at the idea and he chuckled as he pulled away, slipping out of her and causing her to blush. He winked and they quietly finished their refreshing dip before getting out.

A couple of hours later, hunger appeased with delicious fish and some greens that Jughead magically found in the jungle, Betty lay nude on her stomach in the sand, sunning herself. He lay on his side next to her, placing shells that he found on the beach in a row along her spine. 

“What are you thinking about?” he asked softly as his fingers danced over her skin.

“That under different circumstances this would be the most amazing vacation,” she murmured.

“Well, think of it as a little weekend getaway,” he laughed, moving the shells around again. She smiled against her arm at the casualness of it all. Her back was his art pallet and he just kept rearranging the shells into different shapes. 

“Do you think one day we’ll be able to move past everything?” 

“It almost seems like we are,” he observed.

“You know we aren’t,” she chided. “We refuse to talk about our issues because we just fight and we’re lying around in the sand pretending all is right with the world.”

“Because it is,” Jughead said softly, his lips touching her shoulder. She shivered as they moved across her skin. “Once we get back to New York, life will go on and this time here will just be a memory and I want it to be a good memory.”

“Okay,” she agreed, feeling too content to press the issue. She drifted into a light sleep as his fingers kept arranging shells on her skin.

Later she lay back, resting on her elbows at the edge of the water, letting the waves roll over her legs every time they swept up on the shore. She had slept for a while, Jughead waking her before she burned her skin and now she smiled as she watched him dive into waves that were coming at him. She had already jumped in and swam a bit but the nap had made her extra lazy and she figured it was safer to not go up against waves. He swam a few more minutes before heading in her direction, a smile on his face. She let out a gasp when he lowered himself down on her, water dripping over her skin. 

“I was just drying off,” she sputtered, wiping the drops from her face, her legs falling apart on their own as he settled between them, bracing on his hands.

“Well, I like you wet,” he teased, and she flushed at his insinuation. He knew it didn’t take much.

“More good memories?” she asked breathlessly as he pressed against her, his mouth brushing her cheek, the corner of her mouth. She fell back as she moved her hands to his shoulders.

“Oh yes,” he insisted before taking her mouth in a thorough kiss. A wave crashed over them and they didn’t notice as they got caught up once again in the hunger and she decided to take full advantage of these good memories.


	6. Boats and Planes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG! it's here.....i'm very very very sorry. Seriously, ive been writing this damn thing for a year and i'm only 6 chapters in? What's wrong with me??? but yay i finally finished and it will actually go much quicker from now on. Seriously going to try and update the next 3 chapters after this one every weekend. Fingers crossed.
> 
> This chapter isn't very long and basically just filler getting them home to New York. Hope you enjoy.

When Betty woke the next morning, there was a clear shift in the atmosphere that she could sense before she even opened her eyes. They were leaving the island today and reality was already settling in. 

Jughead had been wrapped around her half the night, giving and taking until they were both so spent they could barely move and now she was alone, him having already gotten up and facing the day while she slept.

She let out a long sigh staring at the cave entrance, not hurrying to get out of the sleeping bag. They had spent the entire previous day enjoying the island and each other and had completely ignored the fact that they had issues to sort out. She wondered if they were both so determined to be the one in the right that they didn’t want to hurt the other by insisting on this. Or maybe there was no point. What would it solve anyway? They had still ended up splitting regardless and what was the point of rehashing it all?

They had to fix it, that’s why. Somehow they had to get past it so they could have an actual conversation and not just avoid with fucking. Not that that was going to matter after the day was done. They were going home and most likely, they would once again part ways and all that would be left were some good memories to soothe over the bad. Betty wasn’t sure how long she lay there lost in thought before Jughead suddenly appeared in the entrance of the cave. 

“Hey,” he said with a soft smile when he noticed her awake. “I just went to radio Carlos to see what the plan is and they’re actually just a couple hours out so we won’t be here much longer.”

“Oh, okay,” Betty said slowly, pulling herself to a sitting position. He came over and squatted down in front of her, brushing a stray curl off her cheek and she gave a small smile. “Back to reality I guess.”

“You want me to radio him again and tell him to come tomorrow?” he asked with a slight wink.

“No,” Betty laughed. “No sense in postponing the inevitable.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. He kept studying her for a few moments and she wasn’t sure what she should say. What she really wanted to do was pull him back down onto the sleeping bag but she knew the fun was over. It was time to get back to it and she just hoped it went well once they left the island.

“I guess we need to get everything together,” she commented as she got up, reaching for her pair of shorts. She noticed his glance at her legs before averting his gaze and she bit back a smile. It made her feel good that after all this time he was still so affected by her.

“Someone will come along later in the day and see about getting the boat back in the water so we don’t have to really collect anything off of there but yeah, get our things together and clean up any garbage.”

Betty nodded and started gathering things up alongside him. The affection and constant touching from the previous day was gone and it was back to business. He was closed off again and she had no idea what he was thinking. She couldn’t stand it for very long.

“Jug?”

He paused as he was closing his bag and looked at her.

“I…” she paused unsure of what to say. She lost her nerve to start any serious conversation and just smiled at him. “Thank you for taking care of us while we were here.”

“Of course,” he said with a smile. 

Her heart fluttered and she honestly wanted to kick herself. He said nothing more as they gathered everything and left the cave. She paused and looked at the tiny shelter and her stomach ached as she wished they had been here under different circumstances. The feel of Jughead’s hand slipping into hers made her eyes well up with tears and she turned to look at him. 

“It’ll be alright,” he said softly. 

Betty wasn’t sure what exactly he was referring to and decided not to ask because it felt like if she opened her mouth to say something she would just burst into tears. He tugged gently and she followed him away from the cave and down the beach to the boat.

They climbed aboard and carefully made their way around to see if there was anything that they needed to take with them and after gathering a few things, headed back down the beach to settle near the pool that was already disappearing and wait for the rescue boat. Jughead opened one of the bags and pulled out some of the protein bars and handed it to her.

“It’s not very appetizing after being here a couple days but I told Carlos to have Maria cooks us a nice breakfast and she might have been up to doing what I asked,” he said with a chuckle.

“You really care about these people,” she said quietly, noting his relaxed smile when he spoke of them.

“Yeah, they’ve become kind of like family,” he admitted. 

“And Mama?” 

“The mother I never had.” 

“You’re not going to stay in New York, are you?” Betty asked quietly, running her fingers through the fine sand, unable to look at him.

“I don’t know,” Jughead shrugged but she knew he wouldn’t. His life wasn’t there anymore. 

“What are you going to say to your dad?” she wondered out loud. “Since you’re convinced he sabotaged our boat.”

“You mean after I kick his ass?” Jughead spoke angrily.

“Well, he would deserve that…”

“You could have died, Betty,” he fumed and she looked at him, taking his hand and squeezing it. “I would have never forgiven him.”

“You could have died too,” she reminded him softly.

“I don’t really understand why he can’t just leave me alone,” Jughead sighed, picking up a shell from the sand and tossing it into the water that lapped at the shoreline close to their feet. Betty watched it bob and float around and in an odd way it reminded her of him, seeming to go in all directions and not being able to settle on one way. Or maybe he had finally settled and his father was once again causing him to change directions.

“You really don’t want anything to do with your father’s business?”

“I really don’t. I’ve made a lot of money with my books and I don’t need any of his and I don’t know why he’s so determined to have me take over. Jellybean can do it on her own, she’s more than capable.”

“I think he just wants it to be equal, maybe? He doesn’t just want to give you half of everything if you don’t work for it,” she suggested.

“He doesn’t need to give me any of it.”

“Jughead, it’s a lot of money,” Betty said with a laugh. “Like millions.”

“I really don’t understand why everyone has such a hard time believing that I don’t want any of it. Honestly, I don’t. I have a few of my own with the books and I don’t need his. I can do just fine without it and I’d be perfectly okay with Jellybean taking over everything.”

“I believe you,” she assured him, taking note of the emphatic way he spoke. “You have your own life and you’re very successful. It’s how I would want it too. Well, the money would be nice,” she laughed. “But I would have no interest in running that kind of business.”

“Looks like he was a little off on his time,” Jughead said suddenly, motioning with his head out over the water. 

Betty turned and looked, seeing a boat on the horizon. She felt relief and sadness at the same time. Relief because she no longer felt anxious about being stuck on an island with limited supply and no way off and sadness because her time with Jughead was at an end.

“Will he be able to get close?” she asked, trying to get her mind away from her anxious thoughts.

“Yeah, he should be able to get close enough so we can walk to him. The motor can lift out of the water so it won’t get damaged.”

Carlos did manage to shore the boat, easing slowly in until the boat came to a stop when the front nudge the sand under the water. He cut the engine and lowered the ladder before jumping into the water and wading toward them.

“Well, didn’t you two get yourselves into some shit,” he said with a grin, reaching out and pulling Jughead into a hug. He slapped him on the back before pulling away and turning to smile at Betty, holding out his hand for a shake which she accepted with a smile.

“You get anymore info out of the guy who sent us out alone?” Jughead asked.

“Yeah, he attached the dead switch, your father’s orders,” Carlos said with a grimace. 

The anger on Jughead’s face worried Betty a little and she wondered just what was going to happen to FP when his son got his hands on him.

“You all were just supposed to be stranded on the water for a while and then it was supposed turn everything back on.”

“Yeah, well, it burned the wires and I had to rewire it,” Jug fumed. “I’m seriously going to kill him.”

“She completely wrecked?” Carlos asked, hands on hips as he looked over at the beached vessal.

“Well, the motor is damaged from hitting the rocks but she’s mostly just banged up. Get her back in the water and tug her home and she can be fixed.” 

Carlos turned back to Betty and motioned to the working boat. “Head on over there and have rest. I’ll go check that out with Jughead and we’ll be back in a bit.” Betty looked nervously at the boat sitting and waiting for them. “I promise she’s safe and won’t go anywhere,” the man said with a gentle smile. Jughead took her hand and gave it a light squeeze.

“Five minutes,” he assured her softly. 

She only nodded and watched as they headed over to the dead boat and letting out a tired sigh, Betty turned and waded out to the waiting boat. Once she’d climbed aboard she dropped the bag she had hanging off her back and headed down the few steps to the tiny cabin, much like the one on the other boat. The small bunk type bed at the moment looked more comfortable than her pillow covered bed waiting for her at home and she practically sank down onto the thin barely supportive mattress.

Jughead was true to his word and she heard them board the boat only a few minutes later. She listened to their murmur of voices and Carlos directing the other when to push the boat back from the beach and then quickly jumping on the ladder and climbing on. Betty tried not to feel anxious when the engine roared to life and they slowly pulled away from the island. The thought of being out on the water again for a couple of hours wasn’t something she wanted to do again so quickly after shipwrecking.

When Jughead came down a few minutes later, she was hugging the pillow and taking steady breathes as she willed her fear to go away. He noticed immediately and lowered himself down next to her and pulled her close, his arms more soothing than they had a right to be.

“It’s going to be okay,” he whispered against her hair. “The skies are blue and there isn’t a storm in sight. Carlos is a good captain and he’ll get us to the plane in one piece, I promise.”

“Okay,” Betty said softly, her face pressed against his chest. Jughead eased her back slowly and smiled down at her, his hand lifting to brush a strand of hair off her face.

“We had a good time, yeah?”

“Yeah, we did,” she said softly, her smile shaky. “We also avoided a lot.”

“Some other time,” Jughead shrugged, not seeming at all concerned that they hadn’t fixed a single thing. 

Maybe there was nothing to fix, she thought to herself. What was the point? It was a decade ago. She was more intrigued with the fact that he said ‘some other time’. Maybe they wouldn’t be apart again for another 10 years. She hoped that wasn’t the case.

“We have another couple of hours before we reach the airstrip, why don’t you try to get some sleep,” he suggested gently, knowing she was tired as they had been up most of the night. “Trip will be over faster then and you’ll be on dry land.”

“Well, at least until we’re flying over the water again,” she said with a dry laugh.

“Well, you came on my father’s plane, right?”

“Yes, brand new and upgraded.”

“I’m sure he’s got a bed on there,” Jughead insisted.

“I didn’t go in the back,” Betty said with a shrug. “Stayed in front in the passenger seats. Didn’t think to invade whatever sanctuary your father has in the back.”

“A nice _fucking_ palace, I’m sure.”

Betty furrowed her brow and gently pushed him to a sitting position, shifting up as well. She sat with her back against the wall, her legs draped across his thighs and she tried to ignore the heat she felt from his hand that rested on her calf. 

“Why are you and your father at such odds?” she asked quietly. “I mean, I understand you not wanting to run the business, but it seems to me like you don’t want anything to do with him at all. I know back in the day it was tense between you two, but has nothing changed over the years?”

Jughead leaned across to the table the stood off to the side and grabbed the basket sitting on it, opening it up and smiling down into it. He pulled out two plastic containers and handed her one.

“What’s this?” 

“Maria’s famous breakfast,” he smiled, opening the container. 

“What am I eating exactly?” Betty asked, opening her container, her stomach growling at the tantalizing smell wafting past her nose.

“Gallo Pinto. Simple and amazing. Rice and beans mixed with some eggs, beef and fried plantains. Eat it with the fresh tortillas,” he explained, showing her how to dig in. 

“God, this is so good,” she moaned when she managed to take her first bite. “No wonder you settled here. It’s clearly about the food.” Jughead only laughed as he devoured his portion. Betty hadn’t realized how little they had eaten until her stomach finally felt full as she ate. “That’s why you travelled the world, isn’t it. It was always about the food.”

“Kind of.” 

Betty ate a few more bites as she watched him finish his and set the empty container back on the table.

“So, about your father….”

Jughead let out a sigh and leaned back against the wall, stretching his legs out in front of him. “You don’t give up, do you?”

“Have you ever known me to?” she asked with a smirk. His eyes locked with hers and the resigned look on his face told her exactly what he was thinking. Yes, she had given up once. She’d given up on him. 

“I don’t know what it is about my relationship with my father,” Jughead began before she could open her mouth again. “We just don’t see eye to eye. Like, ever. He tries to be in control of everything, even me and it’s infuriating and he got worse when he got all the Jones Family money. I’m 28 fucking years old and he’s still trying to dictate my life. Hell, he sent you after me hoping he could also dictate my love life. I just want to be left the fuck alone. Is that so much to ask at this point in life?” The frustration in his voice was clear and Betty felt pangs of remorse that she had even agreed to FP’s plans. 

“I’m sorry, Jug,” she said softly, taking his hand in hers. “I didn’t….I didn’t realize.” He looked at her, his face shadowed and reserved. “I shouldn’t have come.”

“Well, as angry as I am about him meddling again, I’m not sorry I got to spend time with you,” Jughead smiled, squeezing her hand. Betty smiled back, feeling her heart unclench a little. “You gonna finish that?” he asked, motioning to her food. She laughed softly and handed him the container.

Betty settled back down and soon drifted off to sleep as Jughead finished her food. He watched her for a while before heading back to join Carlos.

“Should be there in a little over an hour,” the man informed him as he took the boat out over the water. “So how’s that all going?” Carlos asked, motioning below.

“Not sure,” Jughead shrugged. 

“You were alone with her for three days, did you at least tell her how you feel?”

“Nope.”

“Jughead…”

“Let it go, Carlos,” Jughead grumbled, dropping himself onto the bench seat.

“Yeah, you’ve been saying that for about 2 years now. Maybe it’s time you settled it once and for all. What the hell were you two doing anyway if you weren’t hashing things out?”

Jughead just smiled and Carlos laughed out loud.

“Unbelievable. I don’t suppose you told her how long it’s been for you?”

“Just….get us to the airstrip, okay?” Jughead sighed, settling back on the bench and throwing an arm over his eyes in hopes of getting a little sleep.

“Evade, evade, evade…” 

“Shut up, Carlos.”

The airstrip was small and the Jones private jet looked ridiculous standing on the runway. Jughead stood with his hands on his hips and stared at the plane before letting out a laugh.

“Wow, it’s like he’s trying to show off his dick or something.”

“Ugh,” Betty grunted with an eyeroll. “What is it with you men? If you’re not talking about your own junk, you’re mocking the junk of someone else.”

Carlos who had docked the boat laughed as he came up to Jughead, watching with him as Betty stalked off to let the pilot know they had arrived.

“She’s all fire, that one,” he mentioned. “I can see why you’re so hung up on her after all this time.”

Jughead sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Seriously, I can’t tell you how much I regret getting drunk to get over a foul mood and spilling all my shit to you.”

“Well, you might regret it, but it happened and Jughead, its been a fucking decade. Tell her how you feel.”

“I will.”

“When?”

“When I’m ready,” Jughead snapped. “What’s with you? It doesn’t even matter at this point.”

“Buddy…”

“What?” the word came out in a frustrated sigh.

“That woman’s held your heart hostage for most of your life and most definitely over the last ten years. I think it’s time you either tell her that it’s hers or take it back. Time to get on with your life, either way.”

“Yeah…” Jughead said quietly. “I hear you.”

“Good,” Carlos smiled. “I don’t think I can sit through another night of you drinking and whining about the woman you love because I’m not sharing Maria.”

“Shut up,” Jughead laughed, giving the man a shove.

“Figure it out,” his friend said gently before giving him a hug and heading back to the boat.

Jughead stood and stared at the plane, letting out a long tired sigh. He wanted a shower and a comfortable bed and he knew the idiotic eye sore with Jones painted down the side had both and for that reason alone he’d forgive his dad for sending Betty in it to collect him. Like really, why does a man with a bar franchise need a fucking plane with his name splayed across it? FP Jones, trying to prove to the world that he was important.

“We’re all set,” Betty said as she walked up to him, handing him some papers that he’d have to sign in flight. “We’ll be taking off in 20 minutes.”

They waited as stairs were wheeled over to the plane and the door opened for them before boarding. The front of the plane had regular seating and as Betty had said, she hadn’t been past the mid plane barrier so she had no idea what kind of living space was behind the door. They strapped into the seats for takeoff and she was both happy and sad to be finally heading back to New York. It was the uncertainty of it all that was throwing her. She was afraid to ask Jughead what was going to happen now. Were they going to see each other again? Were they over? Were they maybe starting over? She had no idea and she was both irritated and relieved that they had spent their time together fucking instead of talking. She hated this limbo they were in.

“How long is this flight again?” Jughead asked as the plane taxied down the runway.

“Four or five hours,” Betty replied. “I wasn’t paying that much attention when I flew down here.” 

They listened to the announcement from the pilot and sat back for take off and as soon as he was able, Jughead unbuckled and left his seat.

“Come on, we can be a lot more comfortable back there,” he said, motioning to the back of the plane. 

Betty quickly unbuckled and followed him through the door. “Wow,” she murmured as she looked around. It looked like a fancy apartment on a small scale. 

“I’m thinking you’d probably love a shower after all that sea water.”

“Oh my gosh, there’s a shower?” she exclaimed in sheer joy.

“Yeah, through that door in the bedroom. I’m pretty sure my sister probably keeps clothes on here as well and they should fit you for the most part. Just have a look through the drawers in there.”

“Okay, thank you,” Betty said, completely grateful that she’d be able to wash the salt and sand off her skin. The bedroom was as luxurious as the living area, even more so with thick plush carpet and a massive bed that she couldn’t help but stare at for a while. She would definitely be taking a nap in that thing. Looking around in some drawers, she did manage to find some woman’s clothing, a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. They were a little big but they were clean and that was all that mattered. It didn’t take Betty long to strip out of her clothes and soon found herself standing under a cascade of hot water that felt like pure heaven. 

She wasted no time in grabbing the shampoo and scrubbing her hair twice before using what felt like half the bottle of fancy body wash to cleanse her skin and get it breathing again. Betty was lost in the feel of the hot water rinsing her skin that she didn’t notice the door open and the sudden presence in the shower with her. She gasped and jumped in surprise when a pair of arms slowly slipped around her and pulled her back against a hard warm body.

Gripping his arms with her hands, she let herself sink against him, shivering when Jughead pressed a soft kiss to her shoulder. They weren’t quite in New York yet, reality hadn’t fully returned and if he was wanting to take advantage she wasn’t going to stop him. He turned her and the look in his eyes made her shiver. Heat, want and something else that she couldn’t quite figure out. Almost like a haunted, pained look.

Betty traced the lines of his face, brushing her thumb over his lips before leaning in and kissing him. His hands came up to frame her face and he pressed her against the wall of the shower, covering her mouth more firmly with his. A deep hungry kiss that set her body on fire. They had become experts at “not talking”.

They arrived back in New York in just under five hours and despite having slept a little on the plane after her and Jug took full advantage of each other in the shower, Betty was exhausted. Mentally or physically she wasn’t quite sure yet. They both left her wanting to sleep for days at a time. Getting through customs wasn’t a problem since Jughead kept all his papers up to date and there wasn’t anything official about his stay in the jail in Costa Rica and they were out of the airport and into a town car in short order, which Betty was grateful for, knowing there were certain perks for private planes and she honestly wouldn’t mind having it at her disposal at all times.

She could see that Jughead was visibly uncomfortable as the car made it’s way downtown to his father’s place. He didn’t belong here, she knew this. She could never ask him to stay to try to be with her again. She thought that maybe he might if she asked him, but eventually, he would long for the quiet of his new home.

“You doing alright?” she asked quietly.

“Yeah, I’m good,” he shrugged, staring out the window at the concrete flying past him all around.

“Jug…”

“I’m fine, Betts,” Jughead said, turning to her with a smile. “Seeing my father is something I’ve avoided long enough. It’s time. I’m not sorry I got to spend time with you but I am sorry that he involved you the way he did.”

“He just knew that I would do anything for you,” Betty affirmed quietly, taking his hand. 

“That’s called taking advantage,” he said with a humorless laugh. “And it isn’t fair to you.”

“I’m fine,” she assured him. “He probably could have asked me to bring you a new change of clothes and I’d have done it.” Jughead raised an eyebrow and then laughed with a shake of his head. Betty giggled and bit her lip. “I mean it Jug, if you ever need anything, you just need to ask.”

“Thank you.”

When they pulled up in front of the building where FP lived, Jughead sat for a while, just staring at it as if trying to work up the courage to get out of the car.

“I haven’t been here in 6 years,” he muttered almost to himself. Betty grabbed a pen and notepad from the console between them and wrote her information down, tearing off the paper and handing it to him. He took it and looked at it before meeting her gaze.

“I don’t want it to be another 10 years before we see each other again,” she said softly, her eyes filling with tears. “You’re always welcome at my door Jug, no matter what.”

He smiled and nodded, clutching the paper tightly in his hand. Leaning over, he gave her a gentle kiss, his hand caressing her face. She didn’t let him pull away and kissed him again, taking one last taste of the mouth she dreamt about at night, wanting to memorize what it felt like. Jughead kept kissing her until she had to pull back for a breath. He gave her one last swift kiss, soft, wet and gentle and then he was gone.

Betty covered her face with her hands to hide the tears that flowed down her cheeks. It took a moment to catch her breath and she wiped at them quickly, giving herself a shake before nodding to the driver who patiently waited for instruction. He drove her home after she gave him the address and when she finally let herself into her apartment she was emotionally spent. Dropping her bag she went over to the desk in the living room and hit the button on her answering machine, listening to all the messages as she got herself a bottle of water, downing half of it before setting it aside. 

Walking over to the window, she pulled the curtain back and looked out into the hustle and bustle of the city and suddenly understood why Jughead preferred the jungle of Costa Rica. There was no peace here, only noise and distraction and if she was going to be honest with herself, she absolutely hated it.

Betty grabbed the phone off the coffee table and saw it had a charge and dialed the only person she knew would listen and advise her on what to do next. When the call was answered, she let out a shaky breath.

“Veronica? How quickly can you get here?”


	7. Conversations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy :) A little short again and edited quickly, sorry for any mistakes.

Jughead stood at the floor to ceiling windows in his father’s apartment and looked out over New York city. The view was the same as it had been the last time. Maybe a few new buildings, maybe a few less, he wasn’t really sure as he’d never stayed long enough to memorize the skyline. All he knew was that he’d rather be looking out over the vast jungles of Costa Rica than the concrete jungle of this city.

He turned away from the sight and noted that his father had remodeled the place. When he’d last been here it had been modern and bright, with a lot of white and now it was dark and old world looking. He actually preferred this. The dark rich wood and leather furniture, the dark hardwood and plush rugs, the stone fireplace that used to be white marble. This was a place he could get comfortable in if he had too and he’d admit suited his father more than the previous décor had.

Walking over to the bar area, he poured himself a scotch and took a small sip, savoring the smooth taste of it on his tongue. He’d have to remember to take some with him when he returned to the village. Mama would appreciate a fancy scotch for her bar.

“Jughead!” His father’s surprised and relieved voice cut through his thoughts and he braced himself, taking a calming breath before turning. He had purposely made sure that his father got no word about whether or not he was okay. The man deserved to panic a little. He tightened his fingers around his glass in an effort to keep from throwing it at the asshole. “You’re….you’re okay,” FP exclaimed, standing and staring at him in shock. “I’ve been….”

“You’ve been what…exactly?”

“The boat captain said….i mean….the storm….” The older man stumbled over his words.

“You’re a fucking piece of work,” Jughead laughed angrily. “You sabotaged the fucking boat? What the fuck were you thinking?” The last came out in an angry roar.

“I wasn’t, clearly,” FP said weakly, looking down at the floor and running a hand through his hair. “It was just supposed to turn off for a couple hours so….”

“Yeah, I know the fucking plan,” Jughead snapped, interrupting him because he didn’t care to hear any of his bullshit. “What kind of moron sabotages a boat heading out on the fucking ocean in an attempt to play match maker?”

“Look, I know it was stupid but you’re alright, aren’t you?” 

“Jesus Christ,” Jughead muttered. “Physically, yes, we’re fine by some miracle. We shipwrecked on an island with nothing on it! What if nobody could have gotten to us? Eventually all our supplies would have run out and then what? The boat wrecked, Betty got knocked unconscious, I honestly have no idea how she is mentally. I do know that when we got back on a boat she was terrified.”

“I’m sorry about Betty!”

“She could have died!” Jughead yelled furiously, this time hurling his glass at the fireplace, not caring that it shattered, sending shards of glass everywhere. FP flinched, looking properly horrified by what he’d done.

It wasn’t lost on Jughead that he couldn’t seem to shake the fact that Betty could have died. He kept repeating it and it was more horrifying every time he said it. He could have lost her and even though he’d had ample opportunity, he still hadn’t told her how he felt. He hadn’t told her how sorry he was for everything. He hadn’t told her how much he wanted to rewind time and do everything differently. 

“I’m…I’m sorry Jughead,” FP said quietly.

“You had no right to send her after me!”

“I know, but it was the only way I knew you would come home.”

“I was home!”

“Jughead…” FP sighed.

“No, don’t start with me on that shit again. I have told you time and time again that I want no part of this! I don’t understand why you can’t just leave it alone.”

It was FP who was getting angry now, Jughead could see it flash in his eyes. “You’ve been running around the planet for 10 fucking years, Jughead. It’s enough now. You need to take care of your responsibilities!”

“I have no responsibilities here! I don’t want to be here.”

“You’d be here if you were with Betty,” FP pointed out.

“You know what? Fuck you!” Jughead fumed. “Stop fucking using her to try to get to me, to try to control me! This is what you do! You use anything you can to get what you want. Every time I’ve come here in the last decade you’re always pressuring me to stay and you’re always pressuring me to try to make things right with Betty. Why? What the fuck do you care if I’m with Betty or not? Our relationship has nothing to do with you and the only reason you even want us to work shit out is because you think it will keep me in New York. I’m telling you right now, even if we were still together and even if somehow we get back together, I don’t want this and I will not stay in New York!”

“You think I’m using Betty to try and keep you here?”

“It’s very obvious that you are. Tell me why you sent her.”

“Jug..”

“Why did you send her?”

FP sighed and walked over to the bar, avoiding the broken glass from Jughead’s drink and poured himself something strong. He took a long sip before turning back to his son. “I sent her because I knew you would go with her.”

“So you used her.”

“Yes! Okay, I used her,” the man fumed. “I wanted to see my son!”

“You could have just asked me to come for a visit,” Jughead suggested. “But you don’t want me to just come and visit. You want to convince me to stay and run a business I want no part of.”

“Why the hell don’t you want a part of this family’s legacy?” FP asked, sounding completely bewildered.

“It’s just a business,” Jughead informed him. “It’s a bunch of bars. There is no legacy.” He could see his father getting angry and let out a frustrated sigh. “I’m not trying to shit on what you have, dad; but you have to stop kidding yourself. This isn’t something you spent your life building. You inherited a shit ton of money that made it easy to open bars everywhere. You literally just threw money at people to build bars and run them and you slap your name on them. That isn’t a legacy. It’s dumb fucking luck and it doesn’t mean shit to me.”

“Well, it means something to me.”

Jughead went over to the window and stared outside again, letting his mind for a moment wander to Betty and wondering what she was doing. He remembered their conversation on the island where she had yelled at him for not letting her know that he was a successful author. Even apart, she had cared, she had wanted to be apart of it.

“You know, you’ve never once asked me anything about what I’ve achieved, what I’ve managed to create all on my own,” he said, turning to look at his father.

“I know you’re a published author Jughead,” FP informed him. “I have all of your books. I’m proud of what you’ve accomplished.”

“You know, you’ve never actually said that to me. Not once.” 

“You must have known that I was proud Jug. It’s literally all I ever wanted for you ever since you were a kid. I knew how much you always wanted to publish your writing.” 

“Then you must know that that’s what i want to do with my life. That I want nothing to do with your business. I don’t understand why you keep insisting that I come and be part of it.”

“Because Jug! Because I finally have something to leave to my kids when I die, I can finally relax and not have to worry about what’s going to happen to them after I’m gone….”

“You realize we’re adults and doing just fine in life, right?” Jughead interrupted. “If something happens to you, we’re going to be completely okay.” 

FP sighed and went over to his plush oversized leather couch and sank into the cushions, looking weary. “I just remember back when you guys were kids, when we had nothing, when your mother took your sister and left, when you were homeless because you refused to live with a drunk. We had nothing Jughead and i finally have all this, whether i worked for it or not, I finally have something to leave you and your sister.”

“And your thinking is that it isn’t fair to give me half if I’m not working the business?”

“I don’t know, I guess?” FP shrugged. “It wouldn’t really be fair that she’s taking over as President of the franchise and you’re off sunning yourself on some beach and then getting half of it.”

“Then don’t give me half,” Jughead suggested, leaning back against the bar and crossing his arms over his chest. “If you insist on me having some of your fortune, which I’ll again insist I don’t need, then only give me a small portion.”

“I really can’t convince you to stay in New York?”

“I don’t want to be here. It’s not me and it never was. And I swear to God, if you ever pull some shit like that again and send Betty after me, I’m going to throw you out the god damned window. Not only was that inappropriate but then to sabotage our boat? What the fuck were you thinking?”

“I wasn’t,” FP sighed. “And it wasn’t just about wanting you to come home and wanting you working for the company, I still think you kids need to…”

“Stop!” Jughead interrupted angrily. “It’s not your fucking business.”

“Are you telling me that while you were stuck on this island you guys didn’t talk about anything? I mean, you’re both single…”

“How the hell would you possibly know that?”

“I have my ways.”

“You need to just stop,” Jughead snapped. “This meddling that you’re doing.” He pulled away from the bar and poured himself another shot, throwing it back before moving to sit in a chair. “I just feel like you’re always finding ways to insert yourself in everything I do and I’m tired of it. I need you to leave me alone and let me live my life. If that means I’m cut out of the will or fortune or whatever the fuck, than so be it, but you need to fucking back off!”

FP stood and stood with his hands on his hips. “Fine. I’m done trying to convince you to stay here but I’m not going to stop pestering you to come visit once in a while. I know you like your freedom Jughead, and I know you like Costa Rica but you have family here too you know and it’s not fair that you never come around. I’ll discuss with your sister what to do about all this.”

“Fine,” Jughead muttered.

“One piece of advice?”

Jughead rolled his eyes but looked at his father anyway.

“You belong with Betty. Fucking fix it.”

With that he strode from the room and Jughead let out a groan of frustration as he leaned back in his chair, resting his head on the leather and staring at the ceiling. He didn’t know what to do about Betty. It was obvious that they were still drawn to each other, that they still wanted each other, that they were still fire together but he had no idea how to move forward from here. They couldn’t talk about their issues without screaming at each other and it seemed like neither of them were willing to back down or take responsibility for their relationship falling apart. 

It was a terrifying thought. Did he think it was all her fault? Did he want her to take all the blame? Was it his fault? Was he man enough to take the blame? Or had it just been time and they had no fight left. If it hadn’t been for the Serpents, would they still be together? All questions that he needed to figure out; at least the first ones. 

What did he want? That was the question he really had to figure out. Did he want to be with Betty and if it was a possibility, how would it work? She lived here in the city and he lived in a jungle. A jungle he had grown to love. If she wanted to be with him and wanted him to stay in the city, was it something he’d be willing to do?

“Fuck,” he muttered, running his hands over his face. Everything was going perfectly fine until his father had fucking meddled once again. He could just book a flight and head back home by the end of day but he knew he had to see this through. Whatever was going to happen with him and Betty, it was time to work it out.

********

“Girl, where have you been?” Veronica gushed as she invaded Betty’s apartment in true New York socialite fashion. She dropped her Berkin bag on a stool and threw her designer jacket over a chair as if it didn’t cost probably close to $2000. Her perfectly manicured nails tapped the counter and she stared at Betty, her face flawless behind her high priced designer makeup. There wasn’t a thing out of place, perfectly poised as usual. “Seriously, I've been calling for days.”

“Yeah, I know,” Betty said slowly. “I heard your messages.”

“So?”

“Why don’t we sit down.”

Veronica sighed like she was being inconvenienced and Betty bit back her smile as her friend took herself to the sofa and sat down. She crossed her legs, resting her elbow on her knee and leaned in. 

Betty wasn’t sure how to go about telling her what had taken place and so she decided to just lay it out in quick order. “FP Jones asked me to go to Costa Rica to bail Jughead out of jail and bring him home. I managed to collect him and we ended up getting ship wrecked on an island for three days before we were rescued and we spent the entire time either yelling at each other, or having sex.”

Veronica raised her eyebrows in surprise and just stared at her for a moment before getting up and walking to the kitchen. Betty watched in amusement as she grabbed a bottle of wine and poured herself a glass. After taking a rather large sip, she once again turned to Betty.

“Okay…..what?” she asked in confusion.

“I just spent the last three days shipwrecked on an island with Jughead having sex and arguing,” Betty repeated in a condensed sentence.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought you said,” her friend muttered. She was about to take another sip of wine when she looked at the glass and set it down. “I’m going to need something stronger.”

Betty waited patiently as tequila was poured and shot back. After Veronica managed to get her bearings she walked back to the couch and once again took her seat, giving her attention to her friend. “Please tell me how this happened. FP asked you to go bail Jughead out of jail and you just went?”

“Yeah,” Betty sighed, sinking into the couch opposite Veronica. “After not seeing him for years, I just up and decided to run and save him like an idiot.”

“How the hell did you end up shipwrecked?”

Betty took some time and relayed the events of the last few days and Veronica sat sipping the wine she had brought back to the couch with her.

“FP seriously messed with your boat? Is he an idiot?” she asked.

“Yeah, he didn’t exactly think that through and I can imagine the hell Jughead is giving him. I mean, God, he could have killed his son!”

“And you!” Veronica exclaimed. “This is so much to digest. I’m trying to understand what even possessed you to do it? How long had it been since you’d seen him?”

“About ten years,” Betty sighed, sinking back into the cushions and tucking her feet under her. “I don’t know V, I just….he asked me to go and get Jughead and I had been looking at a picture of him on FP’s desk and I just….he looked so beautiful, I suddenly missed him with every fiber of my being and I wanted to see him.”

“Betty, it took you almost 3 years to get over him…”

“The truth is, Veronica, yes those first three years were awful and I felt like I was drowning without him and then I was finally able to move on, have a relationship or two, but he is always there, in my mind, in my heart. I don’t think I’ve ever let him go.”

“Did you tell him all this?” 

“No,” Betty said quietly. “We tried talking about what happened between us but we always ended up yelling and fighting.”

“What caused the fighting?” Veronica asked.

“Well, obviously things ended badly between us and we were attempting to talk about it and get closure I guess but neither one of us was willing to take responsibility for how it fell apart and we just ended up yelling.”

“Why would only one of you take responsibility,” her friend asked softly. “It was both your faults.”

“Well, that’s something that we couldn’t agree on,” Betty said with a laugh. “I blamed him for choosing the Serpents and ruining us and he blamed me for leaving and not waiting for him.”

“Why does it even matter?” Veronica asked, getting up and going to refill her wine glass. She poured Betty one too and brought it to her before settling on the couch next to her. “It’s been ten years. Who cares what happened? Maybe you both need to just get over it and let it go. I don’t even understand how this is an issue 10 years later.”

“I don’t know,” Betty whispered, staring at her wine. “I guess I’m still angry?” She wiped at a tear that leaked from her eye. “I felt betrayed. We had all these plans and he just…I don’t know. I loved him so much and it devastated me that he wasn’t as eager to start our life together.”

“And how does he see it?”

“Well, he sees it the same. He feels betrayed because I left.”

“Oh B, you guys need to talk this shit out.”

“We tried, and honestly, I don’t know now when I’m going to see him again,” Betty sighed.

“He’s going back to Costa Rica?”

“Yeah…”

“Maybe try and get a hold of him?” Veronica suggested.

“I have a serious lust problem when I’m near him Veronica. If I got together with him right now, all I would think about is; he’s leaving, I need to jump his bones one last time so I have something good to think about while I miss him.”

Veronica stared at her in surprise and then let out a giggle. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t laugh,” she quickly said, trying to stifle her laughter. Betty bit her lip and then burst into laughter as well. “Seriously, how do you go from not seeing a man for 10 years to going at it with him in a matter of days?”

Betty smiled and grabbed a couch cushion and hugged it to herself. “Did you ever think Jughead was goodlooking back in highschool?” she asked.

“Yeah, he was cute. In a loner weirdo sort of way at first and when he became a Serpent, pretty much every girl wanted him. He looked fine as hell in that leather jacket.”

“Well, good thing you were preoccupied with Archie,” Betty laughed.

“Oh please, even if I had wanted Jughead, he was so fucking in love with you. Is he still good looking?”

“God, V. I can’t even explain how beautiful he is. A little taller, definitely more filled out, fit, strong, his hair is still so gorgeous, his eyes so blue, his voice, his laugh….”

“Jesus,” Veronica laughed. “You really haven’t let go of him in any way, have you.”

“I’m so fucked,” Betty moaned, burying her head in the cushion. “I don’t know what to do.”

“How was the sex?” 

“Not enough.”

“Wow.”

“What I mean is…” Betty started before laughing for a moment. “It was desperate and eager and every time we did it, it was over too quickly.”

“You guys were on an island with nothing to do but each other and you didn’t take the time to really explore each other?”

“Too horny and frantic,” Betty sighed. “It’s like we knew there was an expiration date and we just went at it like a couple of damn rabbits. We took no time for foreplay. We didn’t need to. I literally dropped cream every time he looked at me.”

“Holy shit, girl,” Veronica gasped after choking on her wine. “This is a side of you ive never seen. I’m guessing the sex is better than a decade ago? He clearly wanted you as well.”

“It was amazing. The first time we did it, it was after we’d had a pretty big fight and I wanted him so bad and I was terrified if I made a move he’d throw me out of the cave and I tested the water by giving him a little kiss and well….i think not even a minute passed before he was inside me. It was so familiar and yet so different and new. He filled out more in other ways too,” Betty giggled. Veronica laughed and set her glass down. “That was probably more information than you needed.”

“Oh please. Archie has been gone for 2 weeks on his acoustic small venue music tour and I haven’t had time yet to meet up with him and I’m horny as hell. Let me live through your adventures,” Veronica laughed. “What are you going to do now, Betty? It honestly seems to me like you’d like to be with him again, to try again.”

“I don’t know,” Betty said softly, running a hand through her hair. “He’s leaving New York again and honestly, he doesn’t belong here. If I want to be with him, I don’t think I have the courage to ask him to stay. I’m too terrified of his answer.”

"What if he would ask you to leave New York?"

"God, V, I don't know..."

“Do you still love him?” 

“I don’t think I ever stopped.”

“Then you need to tell him,” Veronica insisted softly. “If nothing else, you need to tell him how you feel. What he does with it is up to him but at least he’ll know and you can move on no matter what happens.”

“Maybe,” Betty murmured, taking a sip of her wine. “Did you know that he’s J.J. Sweetwater?”

“Excuse me?”

“The author.”

“Yes, I know who you’re referring to, I just once again had to make sure you said what you said. How the hell didn’t we know that? His books are amazing.”

“He did his best to keep it a secret. I mean, his picture isn’t on any of his books and he’s never done any kind of event or appearances. He just writes and stays anonymous.”

“Wow, so he’s pretty damn successful in his own right,” Veronica said in awe. “J.J. Sweetwater…..oh my god, it’s so obvious now,” she laughed.

“Right? God I was so angry when he told me. I honestly wanted to kick his ass.”

“What did you do?”

“Yelled at him,” Betty shrugged. “How could he not tell me something like that? I mean, I know we weren’t exactly on speaking terms, but damn, that was always his dream and im genuinely so incredibly proud. It actually hurt me that he didn’t somehow let me know.”

“Did you feel he owed you that or something?” Veronica asked curiously.

“Yes? No? I don’t know!” Betty leaned her head back and stare at the ceiling. “I just…I wanted to be there when he reached his goals, you know? I feel like we set them together, or at least I helped him realize them….I just.....I should have been there,” she whispered.

“Soooo….you regret leaving then?”

“Maybe.”

*********

Jughead wandered around his room in his father’s apartment, packing a bag with clean clothes and things that he’d kept in the city that he decided he now wanted with him.

“You’re leaving?” FP asked, appearing in the doorway and leaning against the frame. “Won’t even stay a few days?”

“I have a flight in the morning.”

“Seems like a waste,” his father sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Why bother coming at all if you’re just going to turn around and go right back.”

“Well, it’s not like you gave me a choice,” Jughead grumbled. “Plus I wanted to tell you to your face to leave me alone.”

“And Betty?”

“What about her?”

“You need to tell her that you love her.”

Jughead put the book he had in his hand down on the bed and turned to his father. It irritated the hell out of him that the man could read him like a book. “It’s not your business.”

“Son, I know we have our issues and I know you want to live your own life and I’ve realized that there isn’t anything I can do about that, no matter how much I try, but at least do this one thing for me; tell Betty how you feel and maybe then you’ll have some peace.”

Jughead said nothing and when he heard FP turn and leave, he walked over to the armoire and opened it, standing for a minute and gazing at the leather Serpent Jacket that hung on a single hanger. It was his past but it was something he’d never been able to let go of, much like the blonde that haunted him.

He pulled it off the hanger and slid his arms into the sleeves, shrugging his shoulders into it and pulling it to him. It fit like it always had, maybe even a little better now that he filled it out completely. He hated how good it felt, hated the rush of memories that flooded his brain. Turning to the mirror, Jughead gazed at himself, the author disappearing and the hardened gang leader taking his place. 

It could have been his life but he’d chosen a different path and it was time to put it all to rest.

*******

Betty stared at herself in the mirror, taking in the threadbare and faded S t-shirt that she’d slept in for the last 10 years. A t-shirt she had never been able to let go of. She let her gaze wander down to her silk pajama shorts and her long legs that she wished she could wrap around Jughead again. She closed her eyes and remembered the feel of his hands running over her skin. 

“Dammit,” she sighed, turning away and walking out of her bedroom to the kitchen. Maybe Veronica was right, maybe she should give him a call and try to work this out once and for all. 

A knock at the door had her thoughts shifting to wondering what idiot had once again let someone in downstairs without requiring them to buzz in. She walked over and looked through the peephole and gasped in surprise, stepping back and opening the door.

There, in all his Serpent glory, the jacket fitting him like a second skin, stood the love of her life. His eyes darkened as he took in the faded t-shirt she wore before focusing on her face. There was a moment of silence as they quite literally stood locked in a time warp.

“May I come in?” he asked softly, breaking through the stillness.

Betty opened the door wider and stood back, letting the past walk right back into her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay tuned for Bughead to finally face the past.


	8. Leaving the Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Sorry i took so long...but here it is....honestly, im not happy with it but it is what it is and i won't rewrite anymore lol let me know if i was repeating myself

“You have a nice place,” Jughead said with a soft smile as he looked around, seeming unsure of what he should do now that he was inside.

“Well, it’s not FP Jones penthouse nice, but it is nice, so thank you,” Betty smiled. 

“I’d live here over that place any day,” he muttered and there was an awkward silence at the insinuation of the statement.

Betty glanced down at herself and bit back a sigh, wishing suddenly that she was wearing something a little nicer. “Would you like something to drink, or sit down…?”

“Both?” 

“I have beer and wine.”

“I’ll take a beer,” Jughead requested as he moved into the living room, walking to the mantle between her two windows to gaze at the pictures standing there. Betty took a couple bottles out of the fridge and opened them, noticing how he focused on a graduation picture of them with Archie and Veronica. It was a picture she refused to put away, no matter where she was in life. They had all looked so happy and hopeful and it was a reminder that at one time, maybe a very brief time, things were amazing.

She walked over and handed him his drink and he nodded his thanks, his eyes moving back to the picture. “Seems like a lifetime ago,” he murmured.

“It was,” Betty sighed. Jughead turned and walked to the couch, sitting down and resting his elbows on his thighs and staring at the beer bottle in his hand.

“We sure fucked that all up, didn’t we,” he said with a sad chuckle. 

Betty sat down on the opposite couch, taking a drink of her own beer and tucked her legs under her. She didn’t trust herself to sit on the same couch with him because she clearly had no self control around him.

“What brings you by Jug?” she asked softly, not really sure how to answer his question. 

“I just thought I should come see you before I go home.”

“You’re going back?”

“I have a flight tomorrow morning…”

The silence that followed was deafening and Betty felt like her heart was in a vise grip. He was leaving again and she had no idea when she was going to see him again.

“You got everything settled with your father?”

“Yeah, for the most part,” Jughead shrugged. “I think he’ll leave me alone now, hopefully….and he won’t bother you anymore,” he added. “I didn’t appreciate him using you to try to get what he wants.”

“I knew what he was doing Jug, I knew that he knew you would most likely follow me. I still chose to go.”

Jughead let out a laugh as he sipped his beer. “Are you seriously willing to give him a pass here? He used you and then he almost got you killed.”

“I’m not giving him a pass,” Betty said softly. “And honestly, if I see him again, he might get a good knee to the crotch for putting our lives in jeopardy, I’m just saying that I knew what he was doing and I went along with it because I wanted to see you. It had been too long, Jug.”

“Yeah…” he muttered softly, his fingers picking at the label on his beer bottle. “Ten years is a long time to be missing someone.”

“You missed me?”

“Every day,” he replied, lifting his eyes to hers. They were quiet for a while, just staring at each other, trying to find the right words that would end this tense stand off between them. 

“I missed you too,” she admitted quietly. 

“I’m sorry Betty,” Jughead breathed out, still holding her gaze. “I’m sorry for giving you a reason to leave.”

She just sat and stared at him in surprise. She had played this over in her head a thousand times how it would go if he apologized or if she did and in none of those times did she feel like bursting into tears. Betty had often thought about what she would say if he said he was sorry. In her mind she always thought she would feel grateful and happy that he finally did it. She would forgive him and all would be well. Now she sat with a lump in her throat and tears in her eyes.

“Jug…I…” she didn’t even know what to say because it all suddenly felt wrong.

“You don’t know how many times in the last 10 years I wanted to find you and tell you how sorry I am. I was so angry with you when you left. I felt betrayed and abandoned and I’m not going to lie, I was devastated and spent two months raging in anger and by the time I realized just what the fuck I’d done, it was too late.”

“No, Jug, it wasn’t….” Betty began, her chin trembling.

“I realized you were right,” he talked right over her, his fingers gripping his beer bottle and she was afraid he was going to break it. “We had spent two years planning our life after graduation; moving to New York, chasing our dreams, we were going to do it all together and I put it on hold for the fucking Serpents? A bunch of men who didn’t even need me? I let the best thing in my life walk away from me for absolutely nothing,” he said bitterly. “I took for granted that you would always be there no matter what and that you’d be fine with me just putting shit on hold….i guess all our fighting wasn’t cluing me in.” The statement was accompanied with an irritated eye roll. “I’m sorry Betty. I’m sorry that I let you down.”

“Stop please,” Betty sighed, putting her beer down and wiping her hands over her face before pushing her hair back.

“Please don’t say that it’s okay or that it doesn’t matter because neither of those things is true,” Jughead insisted, putting his beer down as well.

“No, that’s not….i wasn’t going to say that,” Betty sighed, grabbing a couch pillow and hugging it to herself. “I appreciate your apology Jughead. I really do. You said you were devastated that I left; well I was devastated that you let me. That you didn’t seem to care, that you didn’t try to stop me, that you chose to stay behind, even when I left.”

“Of course I cared,” Jughead sighed. “My whole world was walking away from me.”

“And like you said, you did nothing,” Betty reminded him quietly. “You let me leave and honestly, I thought it would finally make you see. I thought you would follow me, come with me but you just let me walk away.”

“And there hasn’t been a day since where I didn’t regret it,” he admitted sadly.

“And there hasn’t been a day where I haven’t regretted leaving,” Betty confessed, her chin trembling. “I would go over and over it in my head and thinking, I should have waited, I should have maybe been more clear. I should have tried to make you understand…”

“You did Betts,” Jughead interrupted. “We fought for weeks about it.”

“You were just asking for more time,” she cried softly, wiping the back of her hand across her cheek. “I should have…”

“No, don’t do that,” he said firmly. “You had every right to leave. You were only doing what we had planned. I’m the one who fucked it up and I’m sorry, Betty.” Jughead got up and walked over to her mantle and looked once again at the picture of them at graduation. He picked it up and smiled down at it. “God, we had so many ridiculous plans and I couldn’t wait to either fail or succeed at them all with you. When I finally pulled my head out of my ass and realized how badly I’d fucked up and realized the Serpents were fine without me, God, I packed so fast and rushed to New York. I was ready to drop to my knees and kiss your feet and beg your forgiveness….but when…”

“I wish so much you had come to my door and knocked,” she spoke sadly. “Jug, you don’t….”

“Well, I wanted to,” he sighed, turning back to face her. “You were occupied.”

“No,” she whispered. “I lied when we were on the island.”

“What?” The confusion was clear in his voice.

“I lied,” Betty choked out. “I didn't want to seem pathetic and so i lied. I didn’t….I didn’t sleep with that guy that night. God, I’m such an idiot,” she cried. Jughead stared at her, surprise on his face. “I was so tired of being sad and thinking about you every second of every day. I think I almost dialed your number about 20 times a day to beg you to come to New York and I was just so tired of being sad and alone and I had decided I was going to go on that date and I was going to sleep with that guy and in my head that was going to help me get over you.” She let out a laugh and got up and walked to the fridge and grabbed them another beer and brought them over before sinking back into the couch and taking a heavy drink. He raised an eyebrow as he watched her, sipping his own. “When you saw us going into my apartment, I had every intention of sleeping with him….except I couldn’t seem to go through with it. I started drinking to give myself courage or something, trying to numb myself and after a couple of hours of mindless chitchat and doing shots, he seemed to realize that I was stalling and getting ridiculously drunk. It’s a good thing he was a gentleman because he ordered me to go to bed and left.”

“Well, he left looking pretty damn pleased with himself,” Jughead muttered.

“Probably because he convinced me to go on another date although i don't know why in God's name he wanted to. I called him the next day and cancelled and I didn’t attempt to date or sleep with anybody again for two years. Two damn years Jughead, I wallowed in self pity and wishing you were with me.”

Jughead sat down again and just shook his head. “Christ,” he muttered, replaying the pain of that night over in his head.

“I wish so much that you had come to the door,” Betty said, her voice laced with regret. “You wouldn’t have had to beg Jughead, not even a little.”

He sat back and rested his head on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. “You know, after that night I went on a bender of sorts. I went back to Riverdale and drank for three solid days trying to get the images out of my head of you fucking some other guy and I also decided that I needed to bang someone to move past it. I don’t even know who the girl was but she was willing and I didn’t care and I took her back to our place, to our bed…God, I just wanted to hurt you and in my head, that was how I was going to betray you. I was going to fuck someone on the bed we had shared for two years.”

Betty swallowed the lump in her throat, her eyes once again filling with tears, trying to block the images he was painting. 

“But it was all wrong,” Jughead said quietly. “The way she looked, the way she smelled, the way she tasted when I kissed her. It was all wrong. All I had in my head was you and she was all wrong and we didn’t even make it past kissing and I wanted to throw up; not because she was so bad, she just wasn’t you and my attempt at fucking away your memory failed miserably and I….well…I never tried to sleep with someone else again after that,” he finished quietly.

Betty furrowed her brow and stared at him. “Wait…what?” she asked. “You mean until you started dating…”

Jughead sat back up and held her gaze. “No, I never dated after you.”

“Jug, we’ve been apart for ten years…”

He shrugged and took a sip of his beer. “I was busy travelling.”

Betty stood and paced around a little, trying to wrap her mind around what he was saying. “Jug, are you seriously trying to tell me that you haven’t slept with anyone in ten years?”

“Yes,” he spoke honestly, the truth of it on his face. “You’re the only girl I’ve been with.”

She shook her head in disbelief. “So, on the island….when we…”

“I meant what I said; it had been a while for me.”

“A while?” Betty laughed. “You hadn’t had sex in ten fucking years. How on earth…why?”

“Because I didn’t want anybody,” he explained simply. 

“Jug…”

“It’s possible to be celibate, you know,” he sighed. “Why are you so shocked?”

“Well, what the fuck, Jughead! What were you going to do? Spend your life alone?”

“Maybe…”

“That’s ridiculous!” she snapped.

“Okay, who are you mad at right now?” he asked with a laugh. “Me- because I didn’t move on, or you- because you did?”

“Okay, first of all, I will never be angry at myself for trying to move on, for succeeding in a small way. There isn’t any guilt I’m going to feel over that.”

“Good!” Jughead insisted emphatically. “I don’t want you to feel guilt over it because it was completely your right to move on and I’m glad you did. I’m glad you found happiness again.”

“Well, I don’t know if I did that,” Betty said with a sigh.

“So what’s the issue? Why are you angry at me? The idea of me pining like an idiot for a decade not appealing?”

“Jesus…no,” Betty said sadly, sinking back down on the couch. “I never wanted that for you,” she insisted. “I would never want you to spend ten years alone and stuck in the past. That’s no way to fucking live. Yes, it hurt to think about you being with someone else but I never wished that you weren’t.”

“I wasn’t stuck in the past…not really. I just…I didn’t want to be with anybody while every fiber in my body still wanted and ached for you.”

The way he looked at her when he said it made her entire body clench. He hadn’t slept with anyone except her. In all the time they had been apart. It was hard to believe.

“I’m not upset that you moved on, Betts,” Jughead said quietly. “I’m glad for you, that you were able to. I didn’t want you to be alone either.”

“I didn’t date anybody for two years,” she shrugged. “When I finally felt ready it took almost a year before I found someone I could actually be in a relationship with and even then, you were always there in the back of my mind. That relationship lasted a year and it just fizzled out and then it was another year and I met someone else. I was with him for 3 years. He was a good guy, you know?” she sighed. “Good on paper guy. There wasn’t a thing wrong with him and he loved me…”

“But?”

“He knew…” she admitted with a sad smile. “He knew that when I would tell him that I loved him that I didn’t mean it the way I was supposed to. But that’s what someone does, right? When you’re in a relationship and you’re living with someone and that person says they love you, you say it back. That’s what I thought anyway.”

“So what happened?”

“He broke up with me,” Betty shrugged, showing no sadness at the memory. “He told me he was tired of competing with a memory.”

“Sounds like neither one of us moved on.” 

“I’m not sure what’s worse,” she said with a humorless laugh. “Me in relationships that my heart couldn’t commit to or you all alone for ten damn years.”

“Well, at least you were getting laid,” he grumbled. Betty stared at him and let out a giggle. He smiled and she felt a peaceful feeling settle in her heart.

“Are we going to be okay?” she whispered.

“Me and you are always okay,” Jughead smiled, lifting his beer in salute. She smiled and did the same, drinking to his promise.

“Are you really settling in Costa Rica?” Betty asked after a few minutes of comfortable silence. 

“I’ve been all over the world and honestly, it’s the one place that really felt like home as soon as I arrived there. I actually met Carlos in Japan while he was there on vacation and he told me I should head his way when I had the time and a few months after his invite I headed there and I just never left. I hadn’t written in a few months at that point and I remember sitting on the beach and I pulled out my laptop and before I knew it a few hours had passed and I had written four chapters of my next book and I knew that was home. Everything was quiet and slow and my brain finally seemed to come to rest.”

“You’ll never come back to New York?” she wondered quietly. 

“I don’t know,” Jughead said slowly, holding her gaze. “There’s…there isn’t anything here for me.”

She swallowed, her heart squeezing in her chest. “What if…what if there was?” He was quiet for a while, studying her face.

“Are you asking me to stay?” 

The question was so soft that she almost didn’t hear him. Everything inside her was screaming at her to say _yes, stay for me_ but she couldn’t seem to get her mouth to say the words. She didn’t want to be the only thing keeping him in a city that he hated.

“I…no,” she managed to get out. “I don’t think I could ask you to stay here when you’ve made it perfectly clear how much you hate it. I saw how comfortable and happy you were in that little village and I could never ask you to give that up.”

“I think you’d like it there,” Jughead said with a smile. “You don’t know how peaceful it can be away from the noise and concrete of this city.”

“Is that an invitation?” 

“You will always be welcome, Betts, always.”

Betty nodded and let out a shaky sigh. “I’m sorry Jughead, for leaving. I know you don’t think I need to apologize and really I don’t because it was the right thing to do but I honestly regretted it every day since and if I could turn back time, I don’t know if I would do it again. I try to weigh the pain I felt for so long against the time I would have had to wait for you to be finished whatever you were doing and honestly, I’d chose that now. I think we could have survived it and I think we would have had a great life together.”

“Yeah, we would have,” he agreed quietly. “And I’m so so sorry that I made it seem impossible and that I gave you no other choice, i take full responsibility.”

“I forgive you,” she whispered.

“And even though you didn’t need to apologize, I forgive you too.”

And that’s where they were. There was finally peace between them. The past was behind them and they could let it go but could they move forward? Betty wanted to tell him how much she still loved him but the words seemed stuck in her throat and she swallowed painfully. He looked like he wanted to say something but nothing was said.

“I guess I should get going,” he finally said, standing slowly and looking at the time on his phone. “I have a five am flight.”

“Yeah…” Betty managed as she stood with him and clenched her hands together. Jughead smiled at her and took her hand, pulling her in and wrapping his arms around her. She sank against him, her arms slipping around his waist and hugging him tight. Her heart hurt and she didn’t want him to leave.

“I’m glad we got to talk and work it out,” he murmured against her hair. Betty only nodded and squeezed him tighter. She had no idea how long they stood there holding each other but when he slowly moved back she had to force herself to let go. “I should get going,” he said softly. 

“Okay,” she nodded almost too quickly. He studied her face for long moments, almost like he was memorizing her. When Jughead turned toward the door, she couldn’t stop herself. “Jug..” He paused and let out a breath before turning back to her. “I…”

“Betty?”

“Can you….on the island when we….” She couldn’t seem to find the right words. Jughead stepped closer and lifted his hands to frame her face, staring down into her teary, pleading eyes. Betty took a deep breath and leaned in, resting her forehead on his chin. “It was so fast and we were always….can we…”

“What are you asking?” he whispered.

“Can you stay the night with me?” she asked shakily, terrified that if he walked out the door she would never see him again. “Please….i just…I need you to touch me.” She barely got the words out before he lifted her face and covered her mouth with his and she hurriedly pushed his jacket off his shoulders and he didn't seem to care at all as hit fell to the floor. His hands moved down over her backside lifting her and she wrapped her legs around his waist as he slowly walked down the hall. “The door on the left,” she whimpered when his mouth left hers to trail down the side of her neck. When they got to her room, Jughead walked over to the side of the bed and unwound her legs from his waist, letting her slowly slide down his front. She let out a breath when her core moved over his very obvious arousal. It seemed he was as needy as she was. She felt his hands move under her shirt, sliding up her side and Betty shivered as she raised her arms, letting him lift the shirt up and off of her, letting out a breath when he saw she was wearing no bra. He paused and stared down at her as if he was seeing her for the first time.

“God, you’re so beautiful,” he whispered, lifting a hand and trailing the back of it down between her breasts to her stomach. When she moved to tug at his shirt he pushed her hands away and picked her up in his arms and laid her gently down on the bed. Jughead knelt over her, his knees bracketing her legs and Betty bit her lip as he pulled his shirt over his head, her eyes devouring his torso as if she hadn’t just seen him basically naked for two days straight. The heated look in his eyes made her press her legs together and he brushed his hands along the outside of her thighs, leaving a trail of goosebumps that had nothing to do with the chill in the room.

He smiled down at her and she sat up, pressing kisses on his chest and he let out a breath when she sucked lightly on his collarbone as her arms curled around his neck pulling her skin flush with his, his groan rumbling through him when she tugged his head down for a kiss.

“You feel like satin,” he murmured against her mouth, his hands smoothing over her skin as he gently lowered her back down, his body following until he was pressing her into the mattress, his hands moving over her and coming up to gently cup her breasts. “So beautiful…” Betty whimpered when his thumbs brushed over her nipples, causing them to pucker and he smiled as he kissed her, palming and squeezing while she arched into his hands.

“Please,” she begged as his thumb slowly circled her nipple and it hardened to almost painful as she arched into his hand, desperate for more. 

“Please what?,” he murmured, his mouth leaving a trail of heat as he made his way across her chest, pausing every few seconds to lick and suck at the skin. When his lips ghosted over her nipple her hand slid into his hair and gripped it, stopping his movement, her body arching and begging for his mouth. When he rolled his arousal against her core as his tongue licked over the peak, the ache was so maddening she let out a whimpering cry, her body shuddering in response. His mouth closed over her, sucking gently; his tongue flicking and she pressed eagerly into him as he continued until she thought she was going to lose her mind.

Betty raked her nails across his shoulders as she rocked against him, pressing closer, trying to ease the intense ache between her legs and it only made it worse. Her hands flew down to his zipper and she fumbled around, trying to get it down before he grabbed her hand and pulled it above her head, holding it hostage as his mouth moved up and covered hers again, his tongue sliding in, stroking against hers.

Jughead moved his hand down over her stomach and he slowly slid his fingers into her shorts as he let his mouth trail again down to her breasts and she writhed under him while he slowly sucked her nipple. After a moment he released it and groaned as he looked at the glistening peak and took it in his mouth again for another taste. He tugged on her shorts, seeming unable to keep his attention away from her chest as he pulled and struggled until she reached down and helped him rid her body of them, leaving her clad in only a pair of white cotton panties. He lifted his head again and let his eyes roam over her body and she suddenly wished she was wearing something sexy.

“You are so perfect,” he whispered, not caring at all what she had on as his hand smoothed down her leg and back up, gently sliding along the inside of her thigh. She was all smooth, pale and beautiful and he shifted against her, trying to ease the painful tightness of his jeans but he was determined to go slow, to worship her, to drive her crazy. He trailed his finger across the top of her panties, and watched her face flush, her breathing coming in pants before slipping his fingers inside the cotton, teasing her skin just above her core, already feeling the heat wash over him. She whimpered and lifted her hips, trying to get him to go lower and he obliged her, sliding down into her folds and her moan made him twitch in his pants as her slickness covered his fingers.

"Fuck, you're so wet," he growled, pressing deeper.

“Jug,” she whimpered, her nails digging into his arm. He shifted to hover over her, pulling his fingers away and she groaned in protest and he smiled against her neck, moving lightly against her, the rough material of his jeans against the skin of her legs making her shiver. “Please…”

“Tell me what you want,” he whispered against her breast, his tongue flicking over her again. 

“Oh my god,” she whimpered, her body trembling as she clutched at his arms. “Please touch me.”

“Where?”

“Everywhere, please…everywhere,” Betty pleaded, not caring if she sounded pathetic and needy. 

“I will baby,” he growled against her skin. “I’m going to touch you everywhere.” His lips followed his fingers down her body, licking, sucking, leaving little fires all over her. “My fingers, my lips, my tongue…” 

“Yes,” she whimpered when his tongue dipped into her bellybutton and his fingers played along the edge of her heat. She knew he could feel it, she knew she was dripping and she moved her hand to clutch his hair in a desperate attempt to hurry him up and go lower. His soft laughter made her ache and the need inside her was flaming already.  
Jughead’s mouth moved over her hip as he slowly pulled her panties down, tossing them aside before he smoothed up the inside of her legs, slowly parting her thighs running his tongue along the crease of her leg, latching on and sucking a bruise into her and she gasped, lifting to him, trying to shift to get his mouth where she really wanted it. 

Jughead gave her what she wanted and raked his tongue over her, groaning at the silky heat he found and Betty started to shake, already on the edge of release. She had forgotten how good he was at that, and she was shocked to realize he remembered exactly what she liked, remembered just how to make her buck against his mouth, how to draw out long moans, how to have her begging with need.

“Yes,” she gasped, when his teeth tugged on the edge of her lip before sucking on it as he pushed her thighs wider, his tongue moving to slide deep inside. She came before she even realized what was happening, her eyes rolling back as her body bowed off the bed and he groaned as he felt her flutter and tighten around his tongue.

Jughead slid a finger inside her, his tongue swirling around her swollen pulsing clit and then he added another, moving them slowly, teasingly, curling up and hitting spots that made her head spin as she tried to regain her senses but his tongue stroked repeatedly against her clit and Betty moaned and writhed beneath his mouth, her fingers clenched in his hair and when he latched on and sucked she splintered apart again as waves of pleasure washed over her, her cry echoing around the room.

Jughead groaned as her release covered his tongue once again and her body clenched on his fingers. His body was aching and longing for release and he fumbled with his button and zipper so he could reach in and wrap his hand around himself to take the edge off. He knew he had once again ruined himself for anyone except her. Her scent, her taste, it filled him once more and he decided if he never saw her again he was going to be a celibate monk for the rest of his life. Nobody would ever be enough for him after her. Her response almost made him cum in his hand and he quickly let go of his cock and slowly started again.

“Oh my god,” she gasped as he licked at her. “I need a minute.”

“I’m so fucking hungry,” he growled against her core, his tongue flicking relentlessly over her clit and she gasped for breath, lifting to him, opening herself wider and holding his head to her, unable to stop the rocking of her body against the delicious pressure. He pushed inside her again, his thumb stroking her as he slowly, teasingly fucked her with his tongue.

“Oh my god,” she moaned again as his hands moved back to her thighs, pressing them wide and the delicious stretch paired with his mouth sucking at her made her entire body tense as her release began again. “Jug,” Betty gasped, feeling herself go numb. “I’m coming again,” she moaned, holding his mouth to her and when he slid two fingers inside her, his mouth latching eagerly, her eyes rolled back and she bowed off the bed, her body clenching tightly around his fingers as her orgasm rushed through her in waves. All she registered was his groan as she released into his mouth and then there was nothing but pleasure as she shook in ecstasy.

When she came back down she realized Jughead was gently running his tongue through her folds easing her recovery until she could take a proper breath. He placed a soft kiss on her swollen, tender flesh before slowly moving up her body. His hands pushed his jeans and boxers the rest of the way off, kicking them aside as his tongue licked up the beads of sweat he found, raking through the sheen between her breasts. He kissed her chest, her neck, her chin, her lips and looked into her eyes, seeing the sated, ravished and bewildered look in them and he settled gently between her legs, bracing his weight on his elbows, giving her a few moments to collect herself and moved gently against her, rubbing his arousal over her wet folds, slowly, back and forth.

“Please Jug,” she moaned, gripping his hips to make him stop. “I need a minute…just…” Betty couldn’t seem to form a thought but her brain was very aware of his body over hers, his length rubbing against her, his mouth tasting hers, kissing slowly, deeply, overwhelming all her senses to the point where nothing existed but him. For a man who hadn’t had sex in ten fucking years, he sure knew how the hell to make her lose her mind. 

Betty gently shoved against his chest and he moved, letting her guide him to his back, smiling when she ran her hands over him, wrapping her fingers around his pulsing erection that she was practically salivating over and he moved into her hand and groaned when she squeezed. She started to kiss her way down his body and he gripped her arms.  
“Betts, I won’t last,” he said quickly, his breathing harsh.

“Nobody is complaining,” she whispered as she ran her tongue over his abdomen. His muscles quivered and contracted beneath her mouth and he groaned when her lips touched him. He was hard as steel and warm, smooth and she needed him. Her tongue touched the tiny drop of moisture on the tip and she felt him shudder before she slowly ran her tongue over him. He felt amazing and she was suddenly ravenous.

“Shit,” he muttered, desperately trying to stay still. “Fuck, Betty,” he groaned as her mouth slowly wrapped around him, taking him inside. Her hands came up and moved over his torso, memorizing the lines and planes as her mouth moved over him, slowly, teasingly, her tongue wrapping around him, sucking him deep. He hadn't felt this in so many damn years and he knew he was going to come as fast as he had the very first time they had sex. It was quick and it was embarrassing.

Betty wasn't aware how desperately he was trying to hang on because all she could think was how she had gone a decade without this, without him. She honestly didn’t know how she managed. Wrapping her hand around his base she held him still as she took him in until he hit the back of her throat, swallowing and sucking until he was shaking.

“Fucking hell,” he groaned when she pulled off with a gasp before diving back in. It felt so fucking good and he wanted to fuck her mouth until he exploded. He was almost there the way she wrapped her tongue around him, his hands trembling as he they gripped her hair, his hips thrusting up, pushing himself further into the wet warmth of her mouth. “Betty…” the warning was in his voice.

“I want it,” she gasped, pulling off him, her hand moving over his swollen length. “It’s been too long and I’m hungry too.” 

“Fuck,” he groaned again when he felt his release move through him. Betty sucked eagerly and he exploded in her mouth, his curses ringing around the room as he emptied onto her tongue. “Holy shit,” he gasped as his body shuddered, every nerve ending in his body sparking as her mouth cleaned him up and took everything from him. Jughead wasn’t sure how he was going to keep going as he felt like she drained the life right out of him but her tongue kept licking him and her hand kept moving over him.

Betty realized he needed a few minutes if she was going to get what she truly wanted and spent long minutes pressing her mouth to his skin, kissing his body and running her hands over him as he let his hands roam over her as well. She didn’t know how long they kissed and touched each other before she realized he was rock hard again and rolling her so he could settle between her thighs, his arousal probing at her, sliding through her silky wet folds, teasing her.

“Jug,” she moaned, arching against him.

“What?” he breathed against her mouth. “Tell me what you want.”

“I need you,” she whimpered. “Please.” Jughead held her face and locked his eyes with hers and slowly sank inside, shuddering as her walls gripped him. When he was completely buried, he paused, lowering his head and breathing heavy into her neck and trying to control himself, wanting to slam into her again and again until they couldn’t breathe but he needed to take his time. This wasn’t the island where they had ravaged each other mindlessly without taking any time to make it last, he needed to brand himself into her.

“Betty, tell me how you need me,” he whispered against her ear, his body rocking against hers. He lifted once again to look at her and saw her eyes shimmering with tears.

“Make love to me,” she whimpered. Her hand shook as she touched his face, her legs wrapping around him. “Until I can’t think of anything but you”

Jughead nodded and held her face in his hands, his eyes burning into her as he slowly started to move. She gripped him tightly, biting her lip and then she arched slowly into him, clenching her walls around him. His blue eyes burned with need as he thrust and she kept her eyes on his, gasping at the heat racing through her, her legs lifting and knees coming back and he sank even deeper, a low groan escaping his mouth.

Jughead started to move faster as he stared down into her eyes. He saw the need and he was mindless now of anything but her and bringing her release, of finding his own. She dug her nails in as she met his heavy thrusts, her body chasing eagerly after his every time he pulled out and clenching and drawing him in when he pushed forward once again. He could feel her start to shake, losing control and she arched wildly as he took her mouth in a searing kiss, his hand moving down between their bodies to stroke her as he felt his control slipping and she moaned into his mouth.

“Come for me Betty,” he groaned against her mouth. “I want to feel you come all over me,” He pleaded with her, never having wanted something so bad in his life. “Let me feel you baby,” he gasped, his hand clenching in her hair. She cried out as her body tensed and tightened on him and Jughead stilled and let his head drop, his face buried against her neck. “Fuck,” he gasped. “That feels so fucking good.” Betty dug her nails into his back, her whole body shaking with pleasure as he pressed deep, feeling her orgasm all around him as her body sucked him in and clamped tight. Feeling how he made her fall apart. When she calmed and all he felt were little flutters, he lifted his head, his eyes dark with desire and he slowly pulled back and sank in again.

“Again,” he whispered.

“I don’t think I…” she whimpered.

“Yes,” he groaned, rocking against her. “Again, please,” he pleaded, moving achingly slow and she closed her eyes and let her body move, rising and falling with his. “This is all I ached for all these years,” he admitted heatedly against her mouth. “I want to fuck you until you can’t think of anything or anyone else.”

“I don’t,” she admitted breathlessly, wrapping her legs around him and pulling him closer. Jughead moved harder and deeper, his lips and tongue all over the skin he could reach. He dipped his head and licked over her nipple before pulling it into his mouth and she raked her nails down his back and he released her with a pop. “Come with me,” she pleaded. Jughead suddenly rolled them and she was on top, crying out as he slid even deeper into her.

“Fuck me,” he groaned as she rocked on top of him. Betty braced herself as she let her hips rise and fall on him, chasing the mindless pleasure that only he could bring her. When he reached down and touched his fingers to her, he felt her clench just as his orgasm burned through him and he was powerless to stop it as it rushed through his veins, and he growled as he pulled her down, his arms wrapping tightly around her as he thrust up into her, pulsing and throbbing deep inside. Betty knew her nails were digging deep into his skin but she couldn’t seem to help it as another mind numbing orgasm rolled over her and she was barely aware as he spilled, warm and wet inside her. She would never recover from this was her only thought as he completely consumed her, mind body and soul.

He felt her sink against him, his entire body throbbing and numb at the same time and somewhere through his fog he realized she was sobbing against his neck and he took a few deep breaths, trying to steady himself and found it almost impossible. He was utterly and completely ruined once again. He just held her tightly and she stayed wrapped around him, clinging and breathless. They were sweaty and sticky and their mess was all over their thighs and the sheets but neither cared as they held onto one another, her soft sobs squeezing his heart. 

“I love you,” he whispered against her hair and she shuddered against him, her hands pulling him even closer. 

She couldn’t seem to make her brain or her mouth work and she lay connected to him until she fell asleep with her reply stuck in her throat.

When she woke the next morning, he was gone.


	9. Coming Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, the final chapter. It's not terribly long with a few snapshots over the course of seven weeks but I hope you enjoy how it ends and thank you for taking this journey with me. I can't believe it took me a year to write this and it's not even that long....sorry about that lol Hopefully the next one goes a little quicker.

It took Betty about 30 seconds to make a decision when she woke up alone. Rolling over to grab her phone, she called Veronica. 

“Get over here, now,” she demanded as her friend sleepily answered the phone. 

“Betty...it’s fucking 7:00am! What could you possibly need me for this early?” 

“I need you to tell me that what I’m planning on doing is not completely crazy.” 

“Christ,” Veronica sighed. “I’m on my way.”

Veronica arrived half an hour later looking irritated and tired and she dropped her bag and jacket on the couch before settling on a stool next to the kitchen island. 

“Okay, so yesterday…” Betty started and then stopped when her friend held up her hand.

“Coffee first,” she demanded. Lucky for her, Betty had brewed a pot while she was on her way and she quickly poured her a steaming mug and Veronica held up her hand again to keep her silent while she took her first few sips. “Okay, go ahead,” she finally said with a satisfied smile.

“I’m moving to Costa Rica,” Betty blurted and then winced and rolled her eyes at herself. Her friend stared at her in surprise and then let out a long sigh.

“Can you never start a conversation with something normal?” she grumbled. She grabbed her coffee and walked over to the couch, choosing to get comfortable there instead. Once she had herself all settled she focused on Betty. “Now…what the hell are you talking about?”

“I can’t do it anymore, V; I can’t live without him.”

“Ahhh, Jughead…”

Betty walked over and sat on the opposite couch and ran a hand through her tousled hair. “Do you have any idea how much I’ve missed him over the last decade?” she asked.

“Yes, I know. You never hid it very well. Well, not to those of us who knew you well anyway. I still have no idea how you managed to be with Mark for three years. You looked at him like he was your brother.”

“Oh my god,” Betty groaned, lowering her head into her hands. “Please don’t say things like that.”

“Okay, I won’t,” Veronica smirked. “But please, tell me what brought this on. I get you must have had a very hot and exciting couple of days with him but to just uproot your life? Shouldn’t you think about this some more?”

“He came over yesterday and we finally talked about what happened all those years ago and we forgave each other.”

“That’s it?”

“Well, no….after we talked he was about to leave and….”

“And?”

“Well, I basically begged him to stay the night and we had the most mind blowing sex I think ive ever had. No, I don’t think, I know. It was unbelievably amazing and honestly, nobody compares to him and nobody ever has. Nobody makes me feel the way he does and even ten years apart, the minute I’m anywhere near him, I just connect to him, and being away from him hurts. It hurts right to my soul.”

“I get that Betty, I really do. You guys are soulmates and you never recovered from the break up but to completely up and move to another county? Did he ask you to?” Veronica asked.

“No, he just said I was always welcome and he said that right after I told him I wasn’t going to ask him to stay in New York.”

“Well, why the hell not?”

“Because he would have stayed,” Betty sighed.

“Well, yeah, that’s kind of the point.”

“No, it’s not. Jughead hates New York. He always has and sometimes I wonder if maybe that helped fuel his decision to stay behind and help the Serpents all those years ago. Like he wanted to postpone coming here. I don’t want Jughead to be here simply for me. I can’t be the only reason he stays in New York. He would be miserable here and at some point not even being with me would help.”

“Well, what about you?” Veronica asked. “Do you really see yourself living in Costa Rica in some little village in the jungle?”

“Actually,” Betty said with a small smile. “I do. It’s the cutest little place and the people are so friendly, the ones I met anyway and Jughead is so happy and relaxed there. I’m telling you V, he looked like he was born there. It’s beautiful, it’s right on the water at the edge of the jungle, it’s paradise.” Betty walked to the window and looked out over the city. “I took a break from work because I’m restless and unhappy and I haven’t felt content in so long. I just felt like I was spinning and I decided to take a break to try and figure out what the hell it is that I want and what I want, Veronica, is Jughead. And getting to know him again, reconnect with him in a beautiful little place far away from the noise and distraction of this city, I honestly can’t think of anything better.”

“Well, then why do you need me to tell you that it isn’t crazy?” her friend asked. “You seem pretty dead set on going.”

“I don’t know, maybe it’s more like I wanr your blessing or some shit,” Betty said with a sigh. “You’re my best friend, we get together at least twice a week for years already and I hope you don’t think I’m deserting you.”

“Betty sweetie, come sit here for a second,” Veronica said, patting the seat next to her. Betty sighed and went to sit next to her. “You’re not deserting me,” her friend insisted. “I know you haven’t been happy in a long time and yesterday when I came to see you, even in all the uncertainty about Jughead and what was going to between you guys, your eyes were shining and you looked happier than I’d seen you in a while and it’s simply because you spent some time with him. I would never ask you not to go. This could be the start of a wonderful life with Jughead or you guys finally just put it to bed and I have a feeling it’s the first.”

“Yeah,” Betty smiled, remembering the previous night. “After we were….when we finished,” she stammered with a blush. “He whispered that he loved me.”

“Really? What did you say?”

“Well,” Betty sighed. “I was kind of trying to form a coherent thought and fell asleep before I said anything. I wanted to say it and honestly I don’t know why I didn’t.”

“Trying to form a coherent thought, huh? I guess the sex was not hurried and too fast this time?” Veronica laughed.

“Girl….” Betty said with a groan as she fell back on the couch. “Let me just tell you….he told me that he hasn’t been with anybody since we broke up.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“He never dated and never had sex with anybody after me. He tried and couldn’t do it and he never tried again.”

“Jesus,” Veronica breathed. “That’s…wow. No wonder it was desperate,” she laughed.

“Right?” Betty giggled. “I don’t feel bad that I moved on and had relationships but at the same time, I wish…”

“No, no, don’t do that. I get that it seems all romantic and shit that he chose to be celibate, but don’t ever do that.”

“I know,” Betty sighed. “It just seems sad, him being alone all that time.”

“Well, it kind of is but I guess you can do something about that now,” Veronica smiled. 

“Happily.”

**********************

It took Betty six weeks to prepare and rearrange her life so she could go be with Jughead. The man she loved with her whole heart who had no idea she was coming. By the time she had funds transferred to live abroad and got her visas and papers ready and made arrangements for her career, the weeks had flown by and she was going crazy missing him.

It also took her six weeks to realize she had made a rather shocking mistake. She and Jughead had had sex several times and she’d never once thought of protection. She hadn’t thought about it because she had an IUD. An IUD that had apparently expired because in her year of no sexual activity, it had been the last thing on her mind and now she was staring with shaking hands at the two blue lines glaring up at her from the pregnancy test.

“Shit,” she whispered shakily. “Shit, shit, shit!”

“So I gather I need to plan a baby shower?” Veronica asked with a smirk as she took note of her friend’s shocked face. “Or will I just be sending gifts to Costa Rica?”

“Oh my god, V,” Betty exclaimed, sinking down on the edge of the bathtub, still staring at the test. “How the hell could I let this happen?”

“Well, fucking like horny rabbits for two days straight is a good way to start,” the woman laughed. “Did neither of you think to bring up the topic of protection?”

“Well, quite obviously not,” Betty said in a huff. “What the hell am I going to do?” she asked, her eyes welling with tears. “I’m so not prepared for this. Like, I’m going to show up and be like _Oh hey, Jug, I’m here because I love you and I want to be with you and oh by the way, I’m pregnant. Yay, surprise!_ “

Veronica stared at her and then burst out laughing.

“It’s not funny,” Betty cried, her hands still shaking.

Veronica quickly reined it in and grabbed Betty’s hand and led her to the living room, sitting her down on the couch and getting her a bottle of water. “Okay, take a breath,” she said quietly. “It’s going to be fine, B.”

“How is this going to be fine?”

“Do you honestly think Jughead wouldn’t be 100% supportive of this? He’s going to be a father, with a woman he loves so much that he hasn’t ever touched another one.”

“We spent a few days together after being apart for ten years, V. We knew each other as kids and yes we still love each other but we need time to get to know each other again. Do I want to have babies with him? Yes, of course, but right now??”

“Well, honey, whatever you decide to do, according to your schedule, you have a week to make the decision and if you decide to not go through with it, don’t ever tell him. I don’t know how he’d react to that because I’m pretty sure he would be so happy about this.”

“No, I wouldn’t do that,” Betty said quickly. “I’m so shocked and scared, if I’m going to be honest, but this is our baby. Mine and Jughead’s and even if he decides he doesn’t want me, I would still do this. The timing just sucks. Now I have to explain that I’m not trying to get back with him because I’m pregnant,” she said with a long sigh. 

“I think he knows you wouldn’t use a child to get back with him,” Veronica said softly. “It will be alright Betty and if it isn’t and he’s a jerk about it, I’ll kick his ass and I’ll take care of you.”

Betty laughed and hugged her. “Thanks, V.”

***********************

“Well, I’m surprised to see you, dear,” Alice Cooper said with a smile as she poured two cups of tea.

Betty was two days away from going to see Jughead and she figured if she was going to just suddenly leave the country for who knows how long, her mother deserved to know. 

“Yeah, I kind of have some news,” Betty explained, smiling her thanks as she took the tea. 

“Oh boy,” Alice said with a raised brow. “Something important enough to come all the way to Riverdale? Should I be worried?”

“I’m pregnant,” Betty blurted and then sighed. She really didn’t know why she just kept blurting things out. She figured it was from years of holding shit in. Her mother froze, her tea cup half way to her mouth, staring at her in shock.

“Well,” she said, after clearing her throat and brushing a hand over her stomach. “I certainly wasn’t expecting that. Are you seeing someone?”

“No, not exactly.”

“God, Elizabeth, don’t tell me casual sex got your pregnant.” 

“Well, no…” Betty winced, unsure of how to explain.

“Well, who the hell got your pregnant?” Alice demanded.

“Jughead.”

Betty didn’t think her mother could have been more shocked.

“Jughead? As in Jughead Jones? Your ex Jughead Jones?”

“Yes, yes and yes.”

Alice gave her head a shake, staring at her daughter like she had grown another head. “Well, how the hell did this happen? Last I heard he was running around all over the planet? Is he in New York now?”

“Well, it’s a bit of a story…” Betty began wearily, feeling more tired than she had in a while, which was most likely due to the pregnancy, but really she just wanted to be chilling on the beach with Jughead already, if it all worked out. 

“We have a hot cup of tea to get through,” Alice said gently, touching her daughter’s hand “I’m listening…”

Betty told her mother the entire story and by the time she was finished telling she was more shocked that FP had pulled such a dangerous stunt than she was that Betty was now pregnant. 

“What in God’s name was he thinking?” she fumed, her face red with anger.

“He wasn’t,” Betty muttered. “Jughead dealt with him already. I’m more concerned about what you’ll say when I tell you what I plan on doing.”

“Okay, I know this isn’t exactly the way I thought I’d become a grandmother,” Alice began, hand on her chest. “But please don’t tell me you decided not to go through with it. If you’re scared or it’s too much, I’ll help you…of course it’s your decision but…”

“No mom, I’m keeping the baby, that’s not what I was going to say…”

“Okay, then what?”

“I’m going to Costa Rica. I’m going to be with Jughead, if he’ll have me.”

“For how long?”

“As long as he wants to stay there. I’ve already made all the arrangements and i’m moving there.”

“Are you serious?” Alice gasped. “You’re going to go running after him?”

“No,” Betty said quietly. “That’s not what I’m doing. I’m not running after him, I’m running to him.”

“How is that different?”

“Because he isn’t trying to get away from me, mom, he’s waiting for me.”

“Betty…”

“Mom, I love him. I know it doesn’t make any sense and it all happened so incredibly fast but I’ve been so unhappy and I just want to be with him. There isn’t anything here for me anymore. Everything I want is with him. He’s my home.”

“And what if he doesn’t want any of it? And why can’t you ask him to come here?” Alice asked seriously.

“Then I’ll come back home and Veronica will kick his ass, and he doesn’t belong in New York, or this town for that matter and honestly, im not happy in the city anymore either. It’s time for a change,” Betty said. 

“I can’t believe you’re making me a grandmother and you won’t even be in the damn country,” she grumbled.

“I’ll visit mom, I promise.”

“What if he isn’t there anymore?” 

“He is,” Betty insisted. “I asked FP yesterday.”

“Does he know about this baby situation?”

“No,” Betty said with a shrug. “I figured Jughead can tell him.”

“Well, this is really a lot to take in and I’m very sad that you aren’t here for your pregnancy but you have to do what you need to do and I hope with all my heart that you get everything your heart wants.”

“Thanks mom,” Betty said, her eyes filled with tears. She reached over and hugged her and hoped with her heart as well.

*********************************

It was still hot. That’s what Betty thought when she stood on the dock on the water by Jughead’s little village. She was so nervous, she wanted to throw up, although that very well could have been morning sickness as well. It had started a week ago and it wasn’t the most pleasant thing, but not too bad.

“Ma’am.” Betty turned and smiled at the captain of the boat that had brought her there. “We’ll be leaving tomorrow morning at 8:00am sharp if you wish to return to the airfield. You can leave your luggage on the boat until you decide if you’re leaving or staying.”

“Alright, thank you,” she managed and he smiled at her and headed over to check in at the boat office. 

Betty wasn’t sure what to do or where she could find Jughead and she figured her best bet would be in Mama’s bar. He’d either be there or they would know where he was. She smiled as she walked into the little village and took a deep breath of the fresh ocean air. This would be a wonderful place to rest and get ready for a baby that was a shocking surprise but she found herself more excited at the thought of it every single day.

When she walked into Mama's place, she was pretty sure she couldn’t have shocked them all more. Carlos was behind the bar with his wife and Mama was sitting at a table going over some papers. A quick glance around told her that Jughead wasn’t there.

“Holy shit,” Carlos muttered as he stared at her. 

“Ahhh, Jughead’s Betty,” Mama suddenly spoke, a big smile on her face. She got up and walked over, a smile on her face. Betty couldn’t help but smile back, knowing how important the old lady was to Jughead. “I have been waiting for you.”

“You have?” she asked in surprise.

“I knew you would come back. Jughead needs you.” Mama took her hands and gave them a squeeze. “Since I’ve met him ive seen the great love he hides in his heart and when you came last time, I knew it was you. I could see it in the way he looked at you.”

Betty let out a long breath and blinked to keep her eyes from filling with moisture. “Does he still have this great love in his heart?” she asked in a whisper.

“Even more since he came back home.”

“Okay,” Betty said with a quivering smile, giving the dear woman a hug. As she pulled away, Mama’s hand suddenly settled over her stomach and she smiled softly.

“And soon it will be two great loves,” she said with a wink. Betty gaped at her and the old woman let out a joyful laugh and with a wink, returned to her table.

Turning to the bar, she smiled nervously at Carlos and Maria. “Where do I find him?” she asked quietly. 

“I’ll take you,” the woman offered, coming around the bar. “Wouldn’t want you to get lost in the jungle.”

They left the bar and headed around the back and at first Betty thought they were going back up to the dingy room he had the last time but Maria turned down a beautiful path that led into the trees. Betty could see the water through the green and thought it felt like heaven. 

“So, you’re the great love of Jughead’s past?”

“Did he tell you that?” 

“Not really,” Maria said as she gazed at her curiously. “He mentioned you once or twice when he’d talk about his life as a teenager. There was always a softness to his voice when he’d mention you and I always figured that you were someone special.”

“He never said we dated for almost three years?”

“Nope, just mostly talked about shenanigans with his friends but he smiled the most when you were mentioned.”

“Why do you think he didn’t mention I was his girlfriend?” Betty asked as they walked. They passed a few cottages and took a right toward the water at a fork in the path. 

“I’m not sure,” Maria said. “Maybe it was painful for him? Last time when you were here and Mama mentioned he talked about you when he was sick. I heard him a couple of times when it was my turn to make sure he was doing alright. He mostly just said your name a lot and once he said he missed you but that was all I heard.”

“Yeah…” 

“Are you alright?” 

Betty paused and took a deep breath and tried to clear her head. “I don’t know. I’m so nervous to see him, I’m just…” She laid a hand over her stomach and steadied herself.

“Why are you here?” Maria asked softly. “I hope it’s to stay because ever since he came back there is a sadness that sort of hovers around him. When he returned he immediately moved out of his room and bought this cottage and it was a pretty permanent thing to do so we knew he wasn’t leaving but he wasn’t content either. Carlos says he stands on the beach a lot and just watches, like he’s waiting for something. Is he waiting for you?”

“I hope so,” Betty whispered.

“Well, why don’t you go find out?” the woman smiled. “That’s his cottage behind you. Just follow the path and it’s just around the second turn.” Betty smiled her thanks and headed into the trees. When she rounded the bend in the path she stopped and stared in surprise. It was beautiful. Small, but beautiful. It was nestled in the trees with the ocean stretching out behind it. Completely secluded from the main path. 

“Well, here goes nothing,” she muttered nervously as she walked up to the door. She knocked and her heart started pounding when she heard him call out.

“It’s open.”

Betty opened the door and walked inside, her eyes widening when she noticed the entire back wall was movable and open revealing a stunning view of the ocean. Jughead stood by the table next to the small practical kitchen, looking at the papers laid out and she paused when he glanced up and saw her. He straightened slowly, his gaze locked on her and she devoured him with her eyes. He looked so damn good she wanted to cry. 

The beige cotton beach pants, the white short sleeved shirt that only had two buttons closed, his bare feet and tousled hair. It was like he was born and raised here and he’d never looked better and she knew she’d made the right decision.

“Hi,” she said, her voice a shaky whisper. Jughead rested his hands on his hips, a smile twitching on his lips.

“What took you so long?” he teased and she let out a breathless laugh, feeling a little relieved at his question. 

“I…I had some things to take care of,” she managed, smiling nervously. Jughead took a step toward her and she held up her hand and he paused. He looked only mildly curious as he waited. “I need to say something,” she explained.

“Okay…”

“First of all,” she began. “It’s very rude to make love to a woman to the point where she can barely think and then whisper that you love her and then disappear in the morning before she can function enough to say it back.” Jughead’s smile widened and he seemed to visibly relax as he waited for her to continue. “Before I say anything else I need you to know that I love you. I always have and I’ve never stopped. I love you.”

“I know,” he said softly.

“That was why I decided to come here; I decided the moment I woke and saw you were gone. I decided that I didn’t want to be away from you anymore and I spent the last 7 weeks completely rearranging and uprooting my life and moving here because I love you so much Jughead.”

“I love you too.” He started toward her again and God, she wanted to just throw herself at him and wrap all around him but he needed to know the whole truth. 

“Wait, please,” she whimpered, holding out her hand and not trusting herself if he came any closer.

“Betty, I need to touch you,” he breathed out. "I've been losing my damn mind the last seven weeks."

“I know, Jug,” she all but moaned, her own desperation to feel his arms around her fighting with her need to tell him about the baby. “Just, let me get this said, okay?”

“Hurry,” he all but growled, his eyes starting to darken as they roamed all over her. God, they really had no self control.

“I just need you to know that I’m here because I love you and I want to stay, as long as you’ll have me…”

“Then you’ll be here forever,” he replied firmly.

“There’s one more thing and I don’t know how….God, this is hard,” she whispered, clenching her hands in front of her. “I found something out about 8 days ago and it’s kind of…well, it’s life changing and I’m not ready at all and I’m sure you’re not ready either and I hate just dropping this on you when we’re just literally starting to begin again but…” 

“What is it?” he asked, looking worried when her eyes filled with tears.

“Jug, when we were on the island and at my apartment, all the times we…Lord, how do I say this?” she muttered, wringing her hands. She’d gotten so good at blurting things out and now the words were stuck in her throat again.

“What?”

She just went for it.

“I’m pregnant.”

Jughead froze in surprise, his eyes dropping to her stomach.

“I’m sorry to just drop that on you, and believe me, I’m as shocked as you are but we didn’t use any protection, we didn’t even mention any and to be honest, I didn’t think about it because I had an implant and I hadn’t been sexually active in so long, it just….it expired. I was supposed to have it replaced and I didn’t and….well, now I’m pregnant.”

Jughead lifted his gaze again and studied her face, opening his mouth to say something and then closing it again. 

“It’s a lot, I know,” Betty said with trembling voice. “I’m not prepared, you’re certainly not prepared and I just need you to know that it didn’t fuel my decision to come here in any way. I decided long before I found out about it that I loved you and I wanted to be with you, that you were home to me…I just...”

“Betty?”

“What?”

“Come here.”

Betty hurried over to him and the moment she was within reach he took her face in his hands and kissed her with a hunger that she hadn’t even felt on the island. Her arms flew around his neck and she kissed him back with all the love and passion she could muster and she moaned as his arms wrapped around her, lifting her to him. She gripped his hair and then smoothed her hands over his cheeks, holding him as he kissed her until she pulled back so she could breathe. Jughead rested his forehead against hers, breathing harshly as he loosened his grip a little so he held her gently.

“Welcome home,” he whispered and she let out a happy sob. “You’re really staying?” 

“If you’ll have us,” she whispered back, leaving back slightly and staring into his beautiful blue eyes. 

“God,” Jughead breathed as his hand moved to rest against her stomach. “Did I seriously knock you up?” Betty bit her lip and nodded when he caressed her gently. “Well, ten years holding it in will do that I guess.” She let out a giggle and then laughed out loud as he hugged her close. “Yes I’ll have you. It’s literally all ive ever wanted; both of you.”

“I love you, Jug,” Betty breathed and his smile took her breath away.

“I love you too, Betts and I’m never letting you get away again.”

“Good,” she whispered. 

Jughead picked her up and walked over to a comfortable looking bed and laid her gently on the sheets, settling down next to her and gathering her close.  


“I think Mama knows I’m pregnant,” she said against his neck, kissing the salty skin.

“She knows everything,” Jughead laughed. “I stopped trying to figure out how months ago.”

“Are we taking a nap?” she asked when he made no move except to hold her close.

“Yes,” he said with a smile, his eyes closed. “You seem tired and I’m assuming us being together again and you being pregnant wore you out a little and I want you good and rested before I start eating.”

“Oh god,” she moaned, her entire body tingling at his words. “Id rather you exhaust me completely and then we can rest.” 

“Yes ma’am,” he growled, rolling suddenly so he was nestled between her legs, smiling down at her. “I love you,” he said tenderly as he brushed a curl off her face.

“I love you too,” Betty replied happily. 

She was finally home.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all for reading. hope you all come back :) :)


End file.
